


Adaptation

by TemporalWarlock



Series: The Mage of Manhattan [1]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: BAMF Harry Potter, BAMF Tony Stark, F/M, Found Family, Harry Learns Marvel Magic, M/M, MCU compliant, Mental Health Aware, Parental Tony Stark, Young Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-26
Packaged: 2021-03-27 15:41:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 44,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30125064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TemporalWarlock/pseuds/TemporalWarlock
Summary: Harry Potter hated his fame, hated the way everyone compared him to his parents – who he never got a chance to meet. Adults saw his parents in his hair or his eyes, whilst his ‘friends’ saw a celebrity first and a person second. He just wanted to be a normal pre-teen.Who would have thought the combined powers of the Mirror of Erised – a device that mirrored your greatest desire – and the Philosopher’s Stone – an artifact to give one immortal life – would team up to offer him a new start?Finding himself in a world not his own (repairing itself from a recent alien invasion of all things) Harry must survive the horrors of puberty, learn a whole different kind of magic, deal with sentient technology, oh, and maybe save the universe.Timeline: Harry from 11->14, The Avengers through to Age of Ultron.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker/Harry Potter
Series: The Mage of Manhattan [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2217033
Comments: 177
Kudos: 548
Collections: Harry Potter Fanfic Must Reads, Harry Potter Is Raised By/Related to One of the Avengers, Marvel Fanfic Must Reads





	1. When Sentient Artifacts Conspire

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome, to whatever this is. Comments fuel my writing. Enjoy :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> General Disclaimer: Most Characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Marvel/Disney; I'm just messing about with them.
> 
> This work will feature swearing, but there will be no explicit scenes of violence/sex/nudity. As Harry grows up, so too will the rating - but, that will mostly occur in Book II. This book, 'Adaptation', is the tale of Harry adapting to the MCU, and owing to his age, will be censored of 'that kind of thing'. (it's going to be SFW). 
> 
> With all that out of the way, enjoy!

It had been a stroke of genius, on Dumbledore’s part, to hide the philosopher’s stone within the enchantments of the Mirror of Erised; some of his finest work if you were to ask the man himself. Unfortunately, however, Dumbledore forgot to take some things into consideration.

The first mistake had been presuming that he had understood the complexities of both artefacts. Both had been made centuries ago, their original creators long having left the realm of the living; it had been presumptuous to think he had known the true depths either artefact possessed.

The Mirror of Erised, for example, did not only show you your heart’s desire – it _fed_ upon it. Like a leach on your soul, it had been made by the first owner of the Stone of Resurrection, using the innate magic of one of the Hallows to drive any who looked upon it mad with want (although that had not been the man’s intention). There had been a reason it had been kept in the deepest basement of Hogwarts, under wards so strong a Gringotts goblin would have given a nod of approval upon seeing them; wards which Dumbledore bypassed as the Headmaster of the school.

But much like Hogwarts herself, the Mirror developed a kind of… _sentience_. He (for he thought of himself as a he, when he realised he _could_ think) was not as motherly, not as _kind_ as the castle, however. No. much like the magical artefact that had been used to create him, he _relished_ driving his onlookers mad.

The Headmaster’s misery at witnessing his sister had been _delicious_ ; it had been easy to open a reflection of the realm of Death on his glass, showing the man his greatest regret. The Mirror felt no qualms at doing this; the man had been responsible for his own misery and failed to see the power he – the mirror – had. Even a cursory scanning spell would have sent _waves_ of death magic back in response.

But then children started coming across him, and the mirror developed _morality_.

It disgusted him… he longed for the days when he would entrap all with his thrall, but he couldn’t _help_ but care. Adults who were foolish enough to use him were one thing, but children should _not_ be exposed to something that could, after enough time, rip out their souls to send to the afterlife (he blamed that _nightmare_ of a castle for teaching him, with her disappointed sighs and judgemental magic whenever a child came across him).

The Philosopher’s stone was a different story, however.

Nicholas Flammel and his wife had not created the artefact, no, they had _found_ it. It was far older than any other thing centuries before it had ended up in Dumbledore’s hands. Far too powerful – and complex – for mere humans to create. It too possessed a kind of sentience, although it lacked the morality the Mirror and Hogwarts had developed. It saw everything in a logical format.

The man and the woman who had used it to lengthen their own lifespans? Meaningless. They would one day tire of immortality; the inability to die, for some, meant the inability to _live_. Days would blur and boredom would set in far before they found a reason to _enjoy_ immortality; they would be too focused upon their own lives to see the amount of _good_ they could do with their lengthened lifespan.

Although the stone had been beginning to feel bored itself (being locked away in a fancy glass case for centuries would do that) so going somewhere new was quite a nice change.

Being put into a malicious mirror? Not so. 

Now the two could not talk, per say, but they could communicate through the magic that they were made from. The Mirror’s, silky smooth and inviting, had been curious about its roommate – the stone, in comparison, didn’t give a flying fuck.

Or at least that was the case, until it saw the mirror in action. Ensnaring the minds of others was one thing, but possessing a connection to Death’s Dimension? Now that was curious.

So they began to ‘talk’ to each other.

Their magic intermingled through those months, hidden away as they were in a secret alcove on the third-floor corridor of Hogwarts. Under the curious onlooking of Hogwarts, the two learned.

And became _more_.

In fact, they were rather happy to just be chilling out in their own world, if not for the Mirror’s ‘day-job’ – the regular ensnaring of minds. He went through a bit of a dry spell until that Quirrell bloke appeared.

The Philosopher’s stone was not a fan of that man, for it knew of the second soul hitchhiking on the back of the man’s head like a parasite. That, and it was rather comfortable where it was, thank you very much.

But then the boy with black hair and green eyes showed up.

Now the Mirror, for all it hated its own sense of morality, did have a soft spot for the boy. He – being a magical artefact – had never had parents unless you counted his creator, but the love the boy’s parents had was...interesting to feel through his glass. The longing from both sides – boy and parents - was more bitter tasting than the sweetness of Dumbledore’s grief, and above all that, the child was in possession of one of his uncles.

The Cloak of Invisibility.

The Philosopher’s stone was curious. Could this, perhaps, be another roommate it might communicate with? The flashy fabric didn’t look like much, but neither did a mirror or a shiny red-rock…perhaps there was more than met the eye.

It was therefore unfortunate that, when the Mirror and the Stone combined their magic to pull the cloak in, the boy came with it.

Glass and metal rippled like the delicate waves of Hogwart’s lake as Harry found himself sucked into the Mirror’s surface. So quick did it happen, Harry couldn’t even get out a shout of surprise.

QuirrellMort looked about as confused as he was.

~HP~

Death was having a pretty regular day.

A few reincarnations, the odd underling in need of a holiday; the usual paperwork expected for the ruler of the Dimension of Death.

An unfortunate name, but the _Dimension of Death_ was less a place of nightmares and more like the multiverse’s largest waiting room. Souls would arrive ready for their next stage of life; some would wait for their family, others would reincarnate, and some would experience the weight of a thousand suns on their soul as punishment for the lives they led (Death had once been more creative – just ask that Tantalus, still trying to grab something to eat – but the eons had eroded any imagination she once possessed).

There had, of course, been irregularities in her day-to-day life before. Those decades surrounding the Black Death of Earth-2021 had been a bit rough, whilst the Time-War of Universe-N still gave her a headache (and she wasn’t even _able_ to have headaches!). Then there was that whole Hallows debacle.

She had lost a bet with the One-Above-All (known otherwise as ‘the Creator’, ‘They-Who-Made-EverythinG’, ‘the big boss’, etc.) and, as consequence, had to answer the next pointless-summons that she received.

Why the all-knowing being had asked _that_ of her she didn’t know, but alas, she did as she had to. Three magical items, unmatched in power, given to the mortals of Earth-777 to fight over. Each was powered by the energies of her realm, and so were unable to be damaged or destroyed – unless they had somehow managed to make their way back to her.

But she never really thought of them again, bar on the occasion some person or other had died in pursuit of them.

Which was just one reason why, when she looked up from her latest pile of admin to admire the scenery visible through her floor-to-ceiling windows, she was rendered dumbstruck.

For there, floating by, was a young boy – obviously from Earth-777 – with _her_ cloak on his shoulders, banging his fist against a floating mirror alongside him.

Now the mirror she could understand; that infernal thing had appeared not long after she had given the Hallows to the humans and would appear whenever it wished to show an image from her realm to a mortal (she had, for centuries, tried to catch the bloody thing).

The boy was less understandable.

“Heather?” Death said, her assistant – and part-time lover – appearing from thin air the next moment.

“Yes Ma’am?”

“Why am I looking at a floating human right now?”

“Er…” she flicked rapidly through some conjured papers – Death refused to learn _computers_ – so it was strictly paper in her office. “Hardrian ‘Harry’ Potter, from Earth-777”

“…And why is he here?” her eyes followed the boy as they floated past, the human now shouting at the mirror as if it could answer.

“It seems three magical artefacts accidentally brought him here when they were trying to get together for a conversation”.

“…What?”

“That’s what the file says!” The files were omnipresent, so they couldn’t be _wrong_ , per say, but they did like to be misleading.

“Anything special about the human?”

“Um…” more rapid flicking of papers filled the room, “Harry Potter is… _damn_ ” Heather said with a whistle, eyes wide. At her sudden silence Death frowned, grabbing the file from Heather’s lax hands.

Her eyes scanned over the page; words written in a language no living person could understand. She caught a fair few eyebrow-raising parts of his file…but then she saw why Heather reacted the way she did.

“Bollocks”

“Indeed Ma’am”

“…He’s a few years early, but would it hurt the timeline of 777 if we sent him to 616 now?”

“Earth-777 will adapt to Potter’s death by selecting one Neville Longbottom as ‘the-boy-who-lived-‘

“-crap title-“ Death interrupted, receiving a glare in return. She wisely stopped talking.

“- _although_ , certain individuals will die sooner if you send him with the other Hallows to Earth-777.”

“Those individuals being?”

“Er… Tom Marvolo Riddle, and Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore”

“Ok, so one; that name sucks, and two; is that a bad thing?”

“Probably not”

“Well then, lets do that. Do you think we should just send the Hallows with him, or make him find them later?”

“Um…the humans of Earth-A03 would probably appreciate the suspense”.

“Wonderful. Now, knock him out. I’ll fetch the stone and the wand – I suppose he can keep the cloak – and _for goodness sake catch that mirror!_ ”

~HP~

For one moment, Harry had been convinced he was about to die.

Asphyxiation via mirror had not come to mind, but then again, magic wasn’t exactly something predictable. But, considering his lack of reason to go on – bar maybe Hedwig, and wanting to learn more magic – Harry had made peace with his death when he was sucked into a mirror.

But the cloak around his shoulders (and when did _that_ get there?) was warm and comforting as he…arrived to a planet not his own.

Purple grass and black stone met his eyes first, although strangely he couldn’t get closer to it. Almost like the Earth around the sun, he was suspended in an orbit, unable to get closer to the land far beneath him.

What was with him, however, was the murderous mirror. It – minus its glittering frame – was hovering next to him, looking down upon the world it had brought them to. In its surface, Harry could see a pissed-off Quirrell banging on the glass (and despite the recent revelations, Harry kind of hoped the turban wearing-bloke with a Voldemort infection was able to get him out).

Although curiously there was a floating red stone nearby too. How it had gotten there was anybody’s guess…but maybe Harry hadn’t been the first of the mirrors victims – maybe, before collecting humans, it collected rocks.

(It was a bit of a stretch, he knew, but being transported to a different planet when an hour ago you were in bed was a bit much to get one’s head around. So? Kleptomaniac mirrors it was).

Without anything better to do, he picked the rock up to study it closer. He had not expected the mirror to _fight him for it_.

The mirror – which Harry presumed was the Mirror of Erised – _whacked_ him on the head, hard. It surprisingly didn’t break, but by _merlin_ it hurt.

Harry, unwilling to be beaten to a pulp by a magical object, fought back.

It was not how he expected his day to go.

“Would you _stop that!?_ You’re the one that brought me here!” Harry shouted to the demented mirror, shoving the red-rock into his pocket so as to have both hands for the fight. If possible, the mirror’s attempts to bludgeon him only grew in violence as a response.

“I know it’s bad luck to break you but I swear when I get back I’ll grind you into a fine _powder_ ” The threat fell on deaf ears (not that the mirror had organs, mercifully) as it geared back in preparation of a heavy hit; Harry raised his arms and closed his eyes as the Mirror prepared a mighty hit against his cranium.

It never came.

When he opened his eyes again, he no longer saw the strange purple planet and its possessed mirror. Instead, he saw the Earth.

Except he wasn’t _on it_. He was floating _around_ it.

As beautiful as it was, Harry was pretty darn sure that he shouldn’t be able to survive the vacuum of space, since he was human and not, as it happened, a satellite. Of course this thought was lost behind the wall of _holy shit I’m in space._

He was 90% sure that made him the first ever Wizard-in-Space…not that he’d tell anyone, since that would just add another title to his name. Imagining the titles that would smear across the Daily Prophet in response... hell no.

Considering he didn’t know what on earth – ha- was going on, Harry settled in for the wait. Something would happen, he just wasn’t sure what.

After about five minutes he noticed the strange green energy that surrounded him, cocooning him in warmth…and presumably the thing keeping him alive. Putting it down as ‘just one of those magic things’ Harry shrugged.

Then he noticed something strange coming from the planet’s surface….and it was heading straight for him.

Doing a marvellous impression of a swimmer – if you thought of space as a massive swimming pool – Harry tried to get out of the way as a beam of blue light shot by. It missed him by inches.

Now for those with good impulse control, this would have been a fine moment; they’d realise that surviving the vacuum of space was already some impossible miracle, cut their losses, and maybe enjoy the scenery for however long they had left. Harry Potter, quite famously, did not have very good impulse control.

(He had, after all, ventured into a Cerberus-guarded trapdoor with nary a consideration as to ‘huh, maybe this might not be the best idea’).

So, when the mysterious beam of blue light remained where it was for a good ten minutes… Harry’s restraint was sorely tested.

…by fifteen minutes, his hand was outstretched towards it, pulling it back at the last second with the last dregs of his common sense.

By twenty-five minutes, Harry was bored out of his mind, so he touched it.

Blue intermingled with his own green energy, racing up his arm and spreading through his veins like some malign infection. Once it reached the crown of Harry’s head and the very tips of his toes, he vanished.

~HP¦MCU~

When Tony Stark took a nuke for a piggyback-ride through a mystical space-portal, he was well aware that it would be a one-way trip.

The horror at witnessing an armada of space-aliens had almost made him thankful that it _was_ a one-way trip. If he could do one good thing in his life, one good thing to make up for _decades_ of producing weaponry that had been stolen and abused by Obadiah Stane…it would be to take that threat down with him.

Of course, that was before he realised that the pull of Earth’s gravity was still felt through this end of the portal…resulting in his dead-ironman suit, with him inside, falling _back_ into the atmosphere of his planet.

But before he could lose full consciousness due to the sheer amount of G-force he was under, he could have sworn he saw a kid from comic-con fall with him.

Unconsciousness claimed him before he could question the sight.


	2. Seiðmenn

“So, did I miss anything fun when I was out of it?” Tony Stark said, most of his suit in pieces by his feet. The Avengers had retreated to a Shawarma joint soon after he’d awoken, all of them in dire need to replenish their energy after that battle. Bruce – now back to his loveable human form – was confident that Loki wouldn’t be going anywhere soon (thanks to now being part of the flooring) so they could afford a little break.

Although, frankly, the amount of food Thor could put away was astounding.

“Well, you weren’t the only one to come through the portal” Natasha said, untrusting of the food that she had not prepared herself. She would wait until later to eat.

“Huh?”

“Yeah, some kid with a cape” Clint said, polishing his bow in a way Tony _desperately_ wanted to draw attention to. The guy was practically begging for him to make a dick joke.

“He was real!?”

“Very. Hulk caught him too, and Fury collected him once the Hulk had been distracted with a firework” Steve nodded along to Natasha’s words, manners preventing him from speaking with his mouth full. Bruce put his head in his hands upon hearing about the Hulk’s love of shiny things.

That didn’t stop Thor however.

“ ‘s a see-man” the god said, receiving completely blank looks in return (well, Natasha winced).

“Please elaborate…please” Tony said, mind almost immediately going towards a certain bodily fluid.

Thor chewed a bit more before swallowing.

“A seiðmenn, a male practitioner of seiðr; of magic.” Clint’s jaw tensed painfully at that. Steve grimaced.

“But he was a kid?”

“Fury placed him at around ten or eleven, yes” Natasha said slowly, wondering if Stark had received some kind of concussion to ask a question he already knew the answer to.

“What happened to him then?”

“He’s being guarded at the tower. Fury’s interrogating him as we speak.” She didn’t sound happy about it though.

“They’re interrogating a kid!?” Steve, ever the one to stand up for the little guy, said, standing from his chair and wincing as the movement pulled on his overworked muscles.

“It’s procedure.”

“It’s procedure for a kid to be grilled by the Director of SHIELD?”

“It is when the kid appeared from space, yes.”

“Do they know anything about him?”

“He’s British.”

“Fury’s screwed” All of them around the table turned to Steve, who suddenly looked pale.

“And why, Captain-speedos, would Master-spy Fury be screwed?”

“They’re built differently in Britain…remember Peggy?” The mention of his old flame would have normally caused him to sigh forlornly, but this time he was too focused on the danger Fury was in.

“She was my godmother, so yes I’m familiar” said Tony, a smirk beginning to bloom on his face.

“Anyone fancy clueing us in?” Bruce said, shooting curious looks between the super solider and the (slightly mad) genius.

“Fury’s used to dealing with politicians, Americans, and subordinates…a British kid, who’s likely scared or worried, is completely out of his comfort zone-“ Tony began, with Steve finishing off their point, “- and if I know the British, well, Fury’s screwed.”

>HP!MCU<

“Who are you?”

“Who are _you_?”

“I’m the one asking the questions here”

“Well, you’re kind of not, since I asked a question too-“

“Listen, kid, if you don’t play ball we’re going to have problems”

“Ok, so one; what do you mean ‘play ball’? I don’t want to play any games at the moment, thank you. And two; we already have a problem, since _you won’t let me leave_ ”

A weary, but still alive Phil Coulson looked on to the argument with surprise. The boy had fallen on top of the tower – rather than near it, like Stark – and upon landing, had immediately tried to make his way down the building. Fury, along with Coulson and a team of agents, had intercepted him as they came to collect Loki.

Pre-teen and Director had stared each other down for a minute before both saying ‘ _the fuck!?_ ’ At the same time, and since, it had just been a series of mutual annoyance. Neither had learned _anything_ from each other.

Even Loki, who was now sitting up and cradling his skull, was looking on in amusement. Strangely however, no one could seem to want to move, instead happy to just watch.

“Identify yourself! What planet are you from?!”

“Earth, obviously”

“It ain’t obvious when you _fell from the sky_ ”

“Yeah well it wasn’t my fault!”

“You expect me to believe that!?”

“Well yeah, since it’s the truth”

“Why are you here!?You working with him?” Fury said, pointing towards the smirking Loki.

“I don’t even know who he is!”

“Seems suspicious that you came through the portal _he made_ though, don’t it?”

“…admittedly that does sound suspicious, but I don’t know him! I’m honestly here by mistake, I just want to get home”

“And where is this ‘home’, exactly? Asgard? Hala?” Harry, who was looking at the leather-wearing man a bit oddly now, turned towards the onlookers.

“Is he alright?”

“He’s fine, just answer the question, Mister…?” Coulson asked, a kind smile on his face.

“Potter…bollocks”

“Well well well, _Mister Potter_ , how long you been trying to get to Earth huh?” Fury said, not caring he sounded half-mad (he hadn’t slept in three days, owing to everything, so was a little out of it).

“Are you sure he’s alright? I’m from Britain, not Mars” Harry said, now only talking to the nice middle-aged man.

“So you’re a Martian huh? Well-“

“No species inhabit your red planet, Warrior Fury”

The group – a migraine-suffering god, a group of agents, a tired director and a scared-but-sassy pre-teen – looked towards the voice, belonging to one of the curious newcomers coming from the lift.

He was a mountain of a man, made up mostly of muscle and an outfit…that probably wouldn’t be out of place in Diagon Alley. Although the Hammer was a bit weird.

“Sorry ‘bout Director Crazy over there, what’s your name kid?”

“Harry, Harry Potter. Yourself?” The man looked stunned at not being recognised…which Harry could kind of relate too.

“Tony Stark” the man said, pointing to himself. He had messy black hair and…seemed to be half robot. Harry thought he looked kind of cool, if a little beat-up.

“A pleasure, and your companions?” Harry said, looking each of the others up and down.

“Ah! My companions yes” Stark said, looking incredibly smug whilst the others looked either confused – the hammer guy – or annoyed, “ Natasha Romanof, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, and the god is Thor” he pointed to each of them in turn, although only Bruce waved.

“Thor as in god-of-thunder Thor?”

“Aye! That is the title I am known by” Thor said, chest puffing up slightly at being recognised.

“Isn’t there a story where you wore a wedding dress?” Harry may not have been the most academic before Hogwarts…but learning magic was _fun_ , and history of magic was only ever interesting when he read something that wasn’t being taught to him by Binns. Why he said that of all things when confronted with the god was another matter.

The room was silent for a beat before the guy on the floor laughed.

“Oh remember _that?_ Mother tried so hard to make you pretty- “

“You swore you would never mention it!” Thor said through clenched teeth, hammer raised beneath the other’s chin. The speed at which he moved across the room was impressive.

“I didn’t mention it! He did…and anyway, I’m the god of lies”

“You’re Loki?” Harry said, feeling rather behind on everything that was going on. Since when were Norse gods _real_? Did this mean the Olympians were too? Oh _Merlin,_ what if Zeus was real?

“I am! For a mortal you seem awfully well informed”

“Didn’t you birth a horse?”

Another beat of silence.

“Did you, dear brother, birth a horse?” Thor asked, the playful grin on his face barely contained. Loki looked murderous.

“That was _his-_ ” Loki stabbed Thor with a single finger to the blonde’s chest, “-idea of a practical joke.”

“…Did it hurt?”

“I _did not birth a horse!_ ”

“Apparently it had eight legs” Harry said, now to the newcomers rather than the clearly-in-denial god.

“Ouch” Stark said, although there was humour in his tone. The only one who didn’t look happy at Loki’s misery however was the guy with the bow – Clint something-or-other.

“Can we get back to the point? Who are you?” Fury said, ignoring Coulson’s word of warning.

“…Harry Potter”

“ _What_ are you?”

“…Annoyed?”

“Kid, I think he means how you found yourself falling from the sky” Stark said; although he would have loved to have heard an eleven-year-old destroy the Director of SHIELD with wordplay alone, they were all tired and in need of a long, hot, shower.

“Oh. Well, I’m not entirely sure. I was eaten by a mirror, which then attacked me. Then I was in space, then I touched this _blue thing_ , then I crashed into the top of this tower, then I came here. Oh, and I was glowing green”

“…Bruce, you’re the expert on glowing green, any ideas?” Tony said, eliciting a frown from the other man. Harry had no idea why.

“This isn’t my area of expertise”

“…Thanks Bruce, you’re a big help. So, kid, what are you? Thor here says you have magic” Tony said, gesturing to the blonde god with his thumb.

Harry, no longer having to worry about breaking the Statute of Secrecy (and after shooting Thor a curious look), answered honestly.

“I’m a wizard”

“…Pointy hat, robes, and staff?”

“Uh, well, I don’t have a pointy hat or a staff, but I do have robes…not on me though”

“Magic wand?”

“Yeah its-“ Harry went to his back pocket, expecting to feel the warm wood of his holly and phoenix feather wand. Instead, there was nothing.

Nada.

Zilch.

“It’s gone” Harry said, panic setting in. Before he could rationalise that, if these muggle tried anything, he’d at least be able to manage a bit of magic against them.

But without his wand…he was useless.

The others must have saw something in his expression, since they quickly changed topics.

“Where are you parents kid?”

“They died when I was one” Harry felt a bit odd saying that, since before everyone had already knew. In fact, everyone he had met in the magical world had known way before him. The atmosphere went from awkward to uncomfortably in seconds.

“Shit, sorry kid” Tony said, receiving a ‘ _Stark!’_ the next moment from Steve for his bad language.

“Any guardians? People we can contact?” The kind middle-aged man said – Harry really needed to get his name.

“Uh, Petunia and Vernon Dursley, but we’re not…exactly close” which was an understatement since they’d practically kicked him out and to never return when he went to Hogwarts.

“Their address?”

“4 Privet Drive, Surrey, England”

A few moments passed before Coulson replied, having typed in the information to his ever-present mobile.

“That address houses a Mr and Mrs Darnsley” the man said, Harry frowning in response.

“That can’t be right… maybe they moved?” Harry wouldn’t put it past them, if only so they could get away from him.

“Nope, they’ve lived there since 1983”

“But…wait…” Harry said, finally noticing the advanced technology the man used, and the robotics Stark had, “What year is it?”

“2012”

Harry fell to the floor, his cape pooling around him as he sat. It didn’t explain what happened to the Dursleys – they’d had that home way before Harry had been on the scene in 1981 – but…

“Twenty years” he said in a mere whisper, the others in the room unable to hear it.

“Kid, you ok?” Stark asked. He was, famously, not great with children; but the kid looked positively _ill_.

“Twenty years”At their blank look, Harry elaborated, “I was born in 1980”.

>HP!MCU<

Once the bombshell of Harry’s birth year had been dropped, things began to happen en masse. SHIELD, remembering that they had a job to do, took Loki away to a holding facility (under the watchful eyes of Thor) whilst a separate team took away a golden sceptre.

The tesseract was to remain at the tower, for Stark and Banner to work on a way to send Thor home.

And Harry? Well, he just kind of…stayed put.

The long awaited breakdown had been triggered by the realisation that he was _far_ into the future; his friends would be about thirty-years-old (to say nothing of some of the Hogwarts staff, who would be positively ancient by now). That thought then spiralled into the belief that his Hedwig – the first friend he had ever made – may have even died by now, as he did not know the lifespan of the creatures.

That, perhaps, could have been easy to solve. Maybe meeting his friends, albeit them being older, would have soothed his worries; he’d go back to being a Hogwarts student, hope that Snape had left to go be a vampire somewhere else, and get on with his life.

But then, a mere hour after Harry’s spiral into desperation began, the kind man – who introduced himself as Phil Coulson – gave him the unfortunate news that, well…this wasn’t his world.

It was _an_ Earth, sure. 4 Privet Drive, and Hogwarts did exist, except that they didn’t. The home of his aunt and his uncle was now owned by the aforementioned Darnsley family (something Harry didn’t believe until Coulson showed him a picture of the family; he had no clue who they were), whilst Hogwarts was a tourist attraction in the North of Scotland.

And whilst SHIELD were unable to properly measure what Harry knew was magic, they did take sample readings of Harry’s aura – whatever that was – for comparison. But Hogwarts – called Alnwick Castle on this Earth – was…ordinary.

Old sure, but it didn’t have a lick of magic (or what SHIELD were calling ‘Omega Radiation’).

But Harry’s mind could only take in so much before it shut down. He’d, apparently, not only been sucked into an inanimate object, travelled _universes_ , and wound up on a parallel Earth, but he’d also travelled into the future of that parallel earth…and magic wasn’t a thing here. Except for him.

So, on his place in Tony Stark’s dusty penthouse floor – not that he knew who owned the building – Harry cried himself into a quick sleep.

Because, after finally thinking he had found his place in the world – taken from unloving muggles into the joy of magic – it had been ripped away from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this, the events will be mostly from Harry's point of view (although not first person: I can't write first person lol).


	3. Tony Stark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I already had this written, and a kind soul requested an update...so please enjoy :) 
> 
> It's a little science-heavy, but it sets up later chapters (and my science is...limited, so please let me know if I have made a horrible mistake somewhere :).

First, there was a general kind of stinging in his fingers and toes, akin to pins-and-needles, which spread up his limbs until the feeling pooled in his stomach. Any attempt at movement caused a groan to leave his throat – not his mouth, since it felt like his lips were fused shut.

Gradually, normalcy returned to his being. The pain lessened until it was a dry ache, his senses rapidly catching up now that his body didn’t feel tortured.

There was no sound, bar his own breaths.

There was little scent to pick up on; maybe a hint of lemon.

His skin felt the smoothness of fabric above him, his rapidly awakening mind believing it to be some kind of bedsheet.

When he could wrench his eyes open from their partial-crusted state, it was to look up to a soft-cream ceiling. Natural light seemed to come in from his right, although moving to look didn’t seem on the cards just yet.

And then there was his taste….he honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if a rat had made its home there, died, and begun to decompose as he slept.

It was that imagery that made him shoot into wakefulness, sitting up in the bed he was in and opening his mouth – which was mercifully empty.

He would love some water though.

“Greetings sir, how are you?”

Harry was not ashamed to say he had jumped in place at the disembodied voice, the words having come from…everywhere.

“Peeves?” Only the resident poltergeist of Hogwarts had ever pulled such a trick as this, so that was his logical conclusion.

“I do not know this name unless you are using the word ‘peeve’ in a plural, which seems grammatically incorrect in this instance.”

“Er, no. Peeves is the name of…somebody that I used to know”

“Ah, my apologies Mr Potter. I am Jarvis.”

“And who…or what… is a Jarvis?” the pre-teen looked around his room for some kind of hint as to the being’s location but settled on the ceiling when no obvious source could be seen.

“ I am a singular AI construct, created by Mr Stark.”

“A.I.?”

“Artificial Intelligence, Mr Potter. My brain is comprised of severs of code and information, which was of Mr Stark’s making.”

“So… Stark made you?”

“That is correct sir.”

“Do you, er, have free will?”

“I am enabled to act accordingly with my own thought process, although am incapable of certain actions.”

“So, er, nice to meet you I guess?”

“It is pleasant to meet you too sir.”

“Oh, er, could you call me Harry? I feel like I’m too young to be called ‘sir’.” Which was true, since Harry presumed this A.I. was older than him.

“One moment…I have set your preferred address to ‘Harry’. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Um…are you ok being here? I don’t want to take up your time”

“I exist in multiple places simultaneously, providing my servers have access to those locations, so you are not ‘taking up my time’. In the event additional server space is needed for an emergency, I will inform you.”

“Oh, er, cool then. Could you tell me where I am?”

“You are in guest room three, connected to the penthouse, inside Stark Tower”

“…and why am I here?”

“Following your collapse, an unknown energy particle was released into the atmosphere, destroying standard-electrical-powered technology within a two-hundred-meter radius. Mr Stark expressed curiosity as to this power source, whilst Director Fury attempted to restrain you for study at a secure SHIELD facility. Mr Stark organised this room for you as a compromise, keeping you from SHIELD’s custody in return for information on the energy source now identified as ‘Omega Radiation’”. Harry frowned as he listened, presuming that this ‘omega radiation’ was actually these people’s term for his magic. He didn’t much like the idea of this SHIELD – presumably led by leather-eyepatch guy, maybe that ‘Director Fury’ – of taking him somewhere but felt strangely touched that Stark would worry about him.

Although by the sounds of it, it might have just been to take a closer look at his magic.

He wasn’t really sure what to think at that, so he pushed that thought to one side in favour of his current need.

“Um, Jarvis? Could I have some water?”

“Certainly, Harry.”

Less than ten seconds later, a little robot came in through a hatch on the wall, a couple of bottles of water balanced on top of it. Harry was barely able to withhold the ‘coo’ at the sight…it was cute. Like a little dog.

He downed two of the bottles soon after, his thirst not quenched until he was half-way through the third. Thankfully, the horrid taste in his mouth had retreated upon his rapid water consumption.

“Thank you, Jarvis.”

“It is my pleasure, Harry. Is there anything else I can get for you?”

“Could I get something to eat, if it’s not too much trouble?”

“Oh course Harry, food has already been organised and is on its way”

“That fast?”

“Mr Stark requested water and food to be ready once you began to enter consciousness.”

“Oh.” Harry felt warmth bloom in his chest at the simple act of predicting his needs…no one had ever done that before. Shaking his head – and refusing to look into _why_ no one had ever done something like that – Harry sipped his water.

“If I may, Harry?”

“Yeah, Jarvis?”

“Whilst you await your food, might I ask you some questions? Mr Stark, at my core, created me to be a learning program.”

“Er, sure. Ask away.” Harry wasn’t sure he was ready for this, but the robot/A.I. thing had given him water…he’d feel guilty if he didn’t repay the help.

“Might I ask as to the source of your unique energy pattern?”

“Um, I’m not really sure, but in my world I had magic”

“Does the use of past-tense mean you no longer have access to this ‘magic’?”

“I…don’t know. We used wands to channel and focus our magic, but…I don’t know where mine is, and this world doesn’t have any magical creatures.”

“Why would the presence of magical creatures restrict the use of wands? According to seventeen various fictional titles, wands are made from simple wood.”

“I’m not sure, but I think they need a magical component to…uh… _match_ the wizard?” Harry felt that Ollivander might have been a better person to ask, but since he wasn’t there, he’d improvise.

He’d improvise _badly_ , but he’d try.

“So the magical component, presumably in the form of waste magical creature products, acts as a filter of omega radiation into a form that can be used?”

“Um… I guess? I think some people, after studying for a while, can learn to use magic without using their wand though” Hermione had mentioned something towards the start of the year, although how she knew that when she was as new to the magical world as he was, he didn’t know.

“Interesting. Might I enquire as to whether you are capable of this?”

“Oh, _no_ …well, maybe? Accidental magic is possible, I think, since I remember doing some when I was young.”

“Does it not stand to reason that an individual could use magic without a wand, freely, if they had been capable of doing so since their childhood?”

“Um, I guess?” Harry cringed at the amount of guessing he was doing – they’d only begun magical theory in his classes. “I think accidental magic is more of a defensive ability, activated when you’re stressed or in danger.” His mind flashed back to when he ran away from Dudley and his gang, only to end up on the roof of his school.

“I see. Do all humans in your reality possess these abilities?”

“No” this Harry could answer firmly, “the magical population makes up a minority of the world’s…my world’s population”.

“Are you aware as to the biological nature of your abilities?”

“Um, no?”

“Perhaps I might clarify? Are you aware if magic is enabled within your human DNA by genealogical ancestry, or by a random selection of the human populace?”

“Oh! Um, it’s inherited, but can sometimes appear in non-magical families”

“That seems illogical.”

“How so?”

“If, on the understanding that the capability to use magic on your world is an evolutionary divergence from Homo-sapiens, it would develop at roughly the same period of time amongst the population. Individual cases of magic may arise, under certain conditions, but is it not more logical for magic to be a recessive-gene?”

“…I have no idea what genes are”

“My apologies, I used terminology appropriate for an eleven-year-old present within the public school system.”

“Oh, well, Hogwarts’s education was completely removed from the non-magical world’s.”

“That seems counter-intuitive for the aim of an educated population.” Harry thought about that a bit…although, considering the pureblood stance, new things probably wouldn’t have been appreciated.

“Yeah, but there was a few social issues, I guess. Would you mind explaining your inheritance point again?”

“Certainly. Informally, a gene is a trait that is inherited by the biological offspring of two individuals. For a simple example, your eye colour is likely from your parents or their grandparents.” Harry nodded at that since every bloody wizard worth their salt knew he looked ‘just like his father’ but ‘with his mother’s eyes'.

“Additionally, genes may be dominant or recessive. A dominant gene is more likely to be present amongst offspring than a recessive gene.”

“I’m with you so far.”

“Wonderful. Would it, therefore, be logical that magic is in actuality a single gene, inherited from the parents of a child?”

“That would make sense.”

“Would it be logical to also presume that those who gain the ability of magic whilst having non-magical parents possess this magic gene?”

“If there is a magic gene, sure.”

“It is therefore logical that there was a person possessing magic in the ancestry of a person who gained magic whilst having non-magical parents.” _That_ took a second for Harry to work through, but when he did…

“ _Holy shit_.”

“I have been instructed to chastise the use of coarse language, Harry,” Jarvis said, although Harry was too busy imaging how his world would react to knowing that Hermione – a muggleborn – probably had a magical ancestor.

“Why did you want to know?” Harry asked once he had worked through _that_ realisation.

“It seems logical to test your biological data for potential reasons as to your ability to produce omega radiation. The confirmation that magical capabilities are inherited in your world via parental abilities was necessary to warrant the pursuit of biological testing.”

“Right…” it was at that moment Harry’s food arrived – on another cute little robot – so Harry was saved the uncomfortable awkwardness of having to ask about _biological testing_.

The food looked amazing – and smelt great too – but it felt like lead in his stomach. Was he about to become a lab rat, tested upon for the betterment of this human race? Was he to become a living battery, a source of this ‘omega radiation’?

~HP¦MCU~

Once having eaten, Harry made his way to the en-suite to relieve his (now aching) bladder and to make the most of the shower.

If he was about to become a laboratory experiment, he at least wanted to enjoy a shower…one last time.

He knew he was being a bit dramatic, but considering his being in an unknown _universe_ , he felt like he had a right to be.

Except when he came out of the shower, dressed in a bathrobe that had been hanging on the back of the bathroom door, it was to see Mr Stark sat on his freshly made bed.

“Errr…”

“Hello to you too.”

“Oh, er, sorry. Thanks for looking after me.” Harry said, in reference to the man keeping him here rather than at SHIELD. Stark just waved his hand in dismissal. 

“Wasn’t about to let a kid be carted off to SHIELD, have you settled in ok?”

“Um, yes thanks. When are you taking me to your lab?”

“Huh?”

“Jarvis said something about biological testing,” Harry said, shuffling on the spot. He wasn’t expecting the man to frown at the ceiling.

“Jarvis, did you scare the kid?”

“That was not my intention, sir.”

“Thought I told you to only stick to pleasantries – how did _testing_ come into it?”

“Your instructions were 'to be honest' with Harry sir…and you did not say I could _not_ ask additional questions.”

“…” Stark’s mouth opened, although no sound came out.

“Well played.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Kid, don’t worry about anything like that; I’m not going to do anything if you don’t want me to.”

“But Jarvis said-“

“Jarvis probably didn’t say that we _would_ test you, just that it was an option. To be honest, I’ve already taken enough readings from the energy you release to keep SHIELD busy for months, so there’s no rush.”

Harry felt himself sag just a little at that, hoping that he wasn’t too trusting of the man’s words. He’d rather _not_ spend his life in a lab, thank you very much.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to overreact,” Harry said, unsure of himself when Stark frowned.

“What happened to the sassy-brit who bit back against Fury?”

“Huh? Oh, that. Well, back where I’m from everyone kind of expects me to act in a certain way, so I developed a front when around a lot of people _opposite_ of what they expected.”

“You famous too?”

“Painfully so.” Stark made a grimace, a nod of shared suffering given by both pre-teen and billionaire.

“I’ve been in front of the press since I was three days old, so I can understand a front…you ever had training?”

“Training?”

“Yeah, PR training. You know, for interviews, public engagement and the like?” Stark said, head edged forward as if expecting Harry to know.

“…that’s a thing?”

“Oh, this is going to be a lot of work.”

“Huh?”

“Well, we’ll have to get you prepared for the press if you’re staying here,” Stark said, pulling out a rather snazzy phone from his pocket and rapidly typing.

Harry didn’t even know thumbs could move _that_ fast.

“Wait, you’d let me stay here?”

“Sure,” Stark said with a shrug, “you’re on an unknown planet with nowhere to go, and frankly you’re a magnet for trouble with those energy readings. Keeping you here will keep you safe, and I’ll be able to look into that radiation a bit.”

“Won’t that be trouble for you?”

“Nah, you seem quite self-sufficient, and once we get the drop on your magic, we can see about getting you into a school. You know, once we know its safe for people to be around.”

“Safe to be around?”

“…radiation can cause human cells to change, sometimes negatively.” Harry took a step back, earning a chuckle from the man.

“Kid, I’ve been through a space-portal and I have a lump of starkanium in my chest, a little bit of unknown radiation is hardly a worry for me.”

“Right, ok” Harry still didn’t step closer, however. “Won’t all of that cost money? I mean, I’m grateful, but I don’t want to be a burden – and since I have no idea how I’d get home, or even if I could…I could be here a while.”

Another infuriating shrug from the man.

“I’m a billionaire, so it’s fine. And you’re welcome to leave once we know you’re safe to be around and are capable of looking after yourself…but I’ll sleep better at night knowing I didn’t just cast a kid out on the streets.” Harry could understand that, he guessed.

And if he was a danger to others? Yeah, he didn’t want to hurt anyone.

“Alright…thank you. Really. Can I do anything to repay you?” the man looked dumbfounded for a moment, but shook…whatever it was away.

“Kid, you’re eleven. Just focus on learning what you can about this world, and if you’d come to the lab on occasion so we can run some tests – for both your safety and other’s – that’ll be good.”

Harry nodded. Stark nodded in return before leaving.

“Oh, and there are some clothes on the way for you. Your cloak and glasses are on the chair.”

“I really couldn’t-“

“Too late! See ya kid.”

~HP¦MCU~

“Jarvis? You there?”

“I am everywhere Harry.”

“Right” because _that_ wasn’t creepy at all, “er, where is Mr Stark?”

“Mr Stark has been in his laboratory since leaving your room one hour ago.” Harry had loitered around - what was apparently – his room since Stark had left, eyeing the door to the rest of the penthouse like it was a fluffy-guarded trapdoor. He’d spent at least half of that time simply looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out below on the hustle and bustle of a city that, despite a recent alien invasion (which, ok, _what?_ ) seemed to be recovering quickly.

But he was filled with energy, and for all that the view was _stunning_ , he was bored. So, it was time for exploration.

The door opened with nary a sound, only the quiet _click_ of the handle hinting at movement within the penthouse. The last time the pre-teen had seen it, it had been a mess.

According to Jarvis, that was three days ago.

But _holy shit_ how had it already been fixed?

The room was sleek and modern – a far cry from what Harry was used to – with even _more_ floor to ceiling windows which seemed to be a theme throughout. Harry hoped they were one-way.

“The kitchen is stocked with most food items, although should you wish for a delivery one can be arranged,” Jarvis said, Harry only now noticing the kitchen area and nearby sofas with tv.

He really needed to stop getting distracted by the windows (but that _view_ ).

“Oh, thanks Jarvis…what time is it?”

“It is 2:35, Harry.”

“Has Mr Stark eaten?”

“Sir famously forgets to eat when working in his lab.” Well then, the least Harry could do was make something.

~HP¦MCU~

Thanks to Jarvis’ directions, Harry was able to find the labs quite easily -two levels down via the stairs – but now he was there…well, he felt awkward. It had been ingrained into him at the Dursleys that, to earn his worth, he should do the cooking, cleaning, and all those kinds of things.

At least the tower didn’t have a garden to prune.

Now Harry _knew_ the Dursley’s treatment of him wasn’t right, but he didn’t have any other experience to work from...

Making a massive stew (which he was now carrying in a cast-iron casserole dish) may have been a bit far though. Especially because it was _heavy_ and he couldn’t actually knock on the door because of it. He’d only managed to get through down the stairs because all the doors had been push-opened.

Alas, the lab doors were 'pull' on his side…he had been defeated by a door.

“Would you like me to make your presence known to Sir, Harry?”

“Er, yes please.”

“One moment.” Seconds later the door opened – the door must have been soundproofed for Harry not to have heard anyone approaching.

His eyesight may be crap, but his hearing was excellent.

Stark appeared in the doorway, confusion lining his face at Harry’s presence there.

“Er, kid?”

“Hi…I brought food,” Harry said, in the hopes of clearing up the uncharacteristic look Stark was giving him (Harry had the distinct impression the guy was normally the one who knew what was going on).

“Right…why?”

“It is almost four o’clock sir, and you have not eaten since seven this morning,” Jarvis said, saving Harry in the process.

“Oh, well then, come on in…what is it?”

“Beef stew, Jarvis said you weren’t vegetarian or anything-“

“Wait, you cooked this?”

“Yeah”

“When’d you learn to cook? You’re eleven, right?” Tony took the dish from the pre-teen, gesturing him inside with a nod of his head.

“My relatives, er, kind of expected it of me.” Harry didn’t see the frown Stark gave at that, too busy checking out everything in the room. Unlike the angry-white Harry expected everything to be, it was a tastefully tiled room with darker hues and natural lighting. Large lights hung from the ceiling – although were turned off during the day, apparently – whilst the tables were made from… _was that marble_?

He didn’t have the slightest idea what the various metal instruments were though, nor what was displayed on the large blue screens scattered throughout the room.

And there was someone else there. A guy in a purple shirt, who Harry recognised to be Mr Banner.

Who looked just as confused at his presence as Stark did.

“Tony? What’s the kid doing here?”

“He brought food!”

“But eating in a lab-“

“Is fine if it’s _my_ lab. Jarvis, can you send some bowls and cutlery down?”

“Of course, sir.” Harry’s face flamed at having forgotten the tableware. Stark chuckled, putting the casserole dish down and messing-up Harry’s hair as he walked by.

“So, Harry? Can I call you Harry?” Banner said, receiving a nod from the red-faced adolescent, “How you finding the place?”

“It’s cool I guess…what’s that?” Harry pointed to a glowing cube just in front of the man, also succeeding in drawing Stark’s attention away from the stew he was consuming…with a ladle (where he got _that_ from Harry didn’t know – probably from one of the many _many_ draws in the room).

“Hmm? Oh, it’s called the tesseract. We, well, we don’t know what it is, but we’re building a device to allow Thor and Loki to go home.” Bruce scratched his head with the end of a pencil, eyeing the cube-like it was about to slap him.

“Is it magical?” Harry said, taking a step closer.

“In a way, I suppose. It’s unlike any other energy source we know of...kind of like you as it happens”.

“I’m an energy source?”

“Kid” Stark said, coming over and casually leaning against the desk, “You emit constant amounts of omega radiation measuring around seven-hundred on our make-shift O-Geiger counter.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, your radiation, as far as we know, isn’t ionising, so we had to adapt a Geiger-counter – which measures ionising radiation like alpha/beta particles and gamma rays – to detect omega particles…which is what we’re calling your radiation.” Banner said, Tony nodding along, only disappearing to retrieve the delivered tableware.

“Want some Brucey?”

“I’m vegan Tony.”

“Your loss.” Tony said, making up two bowls of the stew.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were vegan, sir,” Harry said looking guilty, Stark putting one of the bowls in front of him on the desk.

“It’s alright, you didn’t know. Tony, you want to get him up to speed on his radiation?” Stark nodded around a mouthful of stew, directing Harry away to an unused area of the lab with another nod of the head. Harry followed, bringing his bowl with him.

“Right, you want to start testing now?”

“Um, sure?” Harry hoped the guy wasn’t about to do those ‘biological tests’ Jarvis was talking about though.

“Cool! Sorry, you’re just… _fascinating_ ” Stark directed him over to a panel on the floor, stew still in hand.

“Er…”

“Oh! Right, just stand there and keep doing what you’re doing, this will scan your biology non-invasively.”

“Should I be eating here?”

“…shouldn’t harm the results, I think…now, say cheese!” Stark pressed a button on his holographic monitor – not that Harry knew what _that_ was – and a long rod appeared from the ground in front of the pre-teen. Lights along its length powered on before it spun around the circular panel he was standing on. It fell back into the floor after.

“Woahhh…” Stark said, eyeing the rapidly moving screen with surprise.

“Everything alright?” Banner said, coming over after hearing Stark’s sound of surprise. Harry just watched on and ate.

“What’d you reckon to this?” he turned the screen to better show the other scientist.

“Hmm,” Banner said, pausing for a moment as he read through, “It looks to be denser than it was yesterday.”

“It’s not just denser! There’s more of it too! Look” Stark said, swiping across the screen. Harry could make out graphs next to a human silhouette, but since he was looking at it from behind, it made little sense.

He didn’t think it would make much sense if he looked at it properly though.

“But how can you explain the increase in energy emission increase?”

“Jarvis said he ate earlier, maybe the increase in chemical energy increased the emission?”

“But on this scale…he’d need to eat kilos of food to have had such a large increase.”

“hmm… Jarvis, run scenarios on potential energy courses which would be turned into omega radiation, and see if you can gather readings from the past few days.”

“Certainly, sir. Permission to use additional servers for computing power?”

“Sure.”

“Is everything ok?” Harry asked, completely lost.

“Hm? Oh, well both the radiation density and the amount of it you emit have increased since the last scan we did when you first passed-out, but besides from eating, you haven’t received any form of fuel” Stark said, eyes firmly on the screen in front of him.

“Is that why I’m still hungry now?” Harry gestured to the now-empty bowl.

“I mean it may have something to do with not having eaten in days, but who knows?”

“Sir, my calculations are complete.”

“Go on Jarvis.”

“The most probable conclusion is that Harry’s body consumes dark energy as a fuel source.”

Silence met the A.I.’s words.

“Explain,” Stark said, in a quiet voice.

“For the increase witnessed within the radiation emission and density of Harry Potter, over a period of three days, the most logical conclusion is that his cells are capable of drawing energy into the body in one manner and processing it into omega radiation. There are no signs of background radiation being used as a power source, or the use of solar energy. Dark energy is the most logical conclusion, owing to its status as an unknown energy source.”

“But that that-“ Stark said, sitting down on a stool. Banner joined him.

“Is it bad?” Harry asked, Stark turning slowly towards the adolescent in response.

“Dark energy makes up, what, like sixty or seventy percent of the energy in the universe, and has been baffling scientists for decades…and you can just, process it…naturally.”

“It would be logical to presume that the phenomena described as Magic is a result of this dark energy acting as a power source.”

But Stark and Banner were too busy having their respective scientific meltdowns to hear Jarvis’ point. Harry, a tad worried, stepped off the panel and poked Stark in the shoulder.

When that didn’t work he poked the man’s forehead. It seemed to do the trick.

“Kid, I need you to listen very carefully to what I’m about to say, alright?” Stark said, hand on each of Harry’s shoulders and looking surprisingly serious. Harry nodded. “No one can find out about this. You’d be tested on until your dying days if the wrong people found out. Jarvis, delete all of the mentions of dark energy associated to Harry.”

“Understood sir. All energy quantities will be referred to as omega-radiation.”

“Bruce, you cool with this?”

“I mean yeah, but we have another issue to deal with,” Bruce said, looking at the screen again – apparently saving the breakdown until later. Stark joined him back at the monitor.

“Well, shit” at Harry’s blank look, Stark elaborated, “your emission levels increased by point-two marks in the second it took to scan you.”

“Which means…”

“It means, kid, that you’ll either continuously increase your emission, or…you’ll kind of combust”

Harry did _not_ like the sound of that.

~HP¦MCU~

Unfortunately, Harry had all the luck of a broken mirror.

After that first day, Harry was in the labs more often than out of them. They’d conducted some tests to establish that the energy that he gave off – which he begged people to call ‘magic’, because radiation just sounded scary – wasn’t harmful to the environment or those around him. In fact, it just…avoided other things. It just hung on his frame, around three inches from his skin.

But with Stark’s theory of him reaching a ‘breaking-point’ of ‘backed-up magic’, Harry still didn’t leave the penthouse or the downstairs lab (which he later leant was ‘lab 9’, as there were _ten floors_ simply for labs, nine and ten being Stark’s personal ones). He quickly created a routine whilst in the tower, although only interacted with Stark, and on occasion, Banner.

Stark didn’t want anyone pestering Harry considering his…less than ideal mental state, what with potential explosion on the cards (he had regretted telling the eleven-year-old that the moment he said it). As the days went by however, Harry started feeling edgy.

The excess energy he had awoken with days ago hadn’t abated, and now he found himself almost unable to sleep with restless energy. Stark’s offer of a sleeping pill had been vetoed by Banner, who instead suggested yoga, meditation, or exercise.

Which was great and all, but Harry was _restless_. Yoga was good for five minutes before he got bored, and meditation was a non-starter ever since he started twitching when not moving. Below the labs, a gym offered a good area for Harry to work off steam…but the moment after he showered back in his room, it was like he hadn’t just been running for hours and using the lighter gym equipment.

It was driving him, and everyone else, a little mad. Although Harry did cook all the meals now – against Stark’s wishes mind – if only to fill his time and not go insane.

Then, almost a week after that first lab-session, Harry collapsed whilst making lunch.

Stark had gone from irritation at the constant-energy (partly out of jealousy, Harry suspected) to worry in seconds, and for all his brain was impossibly fast and impressive, was at a loss as to how one might _stabilise dark energy_. Banner was equally at a loss.

~HP¦MCU~

Stark had taken to being in Harry’s room now the kid had been put on bed-rest, the guy barely able to lift his arms or head without pain. Stark, a man who almost always knew what was going on and what to do, was not a fan of the helplessness he felt. This Harry knew, because Stark muttered to himself when he thought Harry was sleeping.

But then a knock came from the door.

Both thinking it to be Banner – or perhaps Pepper, who Stark had spoken a great deal about but who Harry had yet to meet – Stark called out “come in”.

Except, once the door opened, it was someone neither of them recognised.

A bald woman with a kind smile and a powerful presence, dressed in yellow _robes_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all know who it is. Well, if you don't, you will soon.


	4. Magic of the Multiverse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little shorter than the last chapter, introducing the Ancient One and Eldritch Magic.
> 
> Some lines are lifted from the movie 'Doctor Strange' (2016), and so the initial disclaimer in chapter 1 has been updated. Enjoy.

A moment of surprise passed before Stark’s hand was covered in various pieces of metal, the sound of something powering up filling the silence.

“Who _the fuck_ are you?” Stark said, palm facing the newcomer.

“So quick to choose violence, Mr. Stark. Although, perhaps in this instance, I can understand why. I am here to help Mr. Potter there” she nodded her head to Harry’s prone state, kind smile not having left her face. Stark didn’t back down.

“How do you know his name? Who are you with? SHIELD?”

“Not quite, although I share many of the same aims with that organisation. No, I am a sorcerer.”

Stark gave her a blank look.

“Kid, you know her?” Harry shook his head, as much as he was able to. “How were you able to get in here?”

“Quite simply” she said, before drawing a circle in the air with two of her fingers. Flames, the colour of liquified gold, sparked at the movement until a circle formed in the air.

She stuck her hand through it, her arm disappearing and reappearing behind Stark where another portal lay. Stark barely suppressed a yelp.

“What the _fu_ -“

“Language, Mr Stark.” The look she gave to the man silenced him, more effective than any chastising Captain America had ever sent his way. Harry wanted to take notes.

She pulled her arm back through, the portal closing shut the next second. She rested her arms behind her back, completely at ease.

“…ok, I’m interested. But I don’t trust you.”

“You would be foolish to, Mr Stark, but you cannot disagree that you are currently at a loss as of what to do with the young Mr Potter there” she had a point, Harry thought. Stark, however, didn’t much like his inability to be pointed out.

“Any funny business and you’ll be blown to smithereens.”

“Doubtful, but I understand your threat. I am not here, however, for threats. Now, if I might speak to Mr Potter?” she said, although Stark couldn’t leave even if he wanted to – because Harry, unwilling to be left in a room with a practical stranger, had a fragile grip on his shirt.

Stark nodded, sitting in the chair that had been next to the bed for the past few days, although not putting away the deployed gauntlet on his hand. The woman remained standing. She took a relaxed stance, and as she spoke, a series of shapes appeared in the same fiery energy as before, conjured according to her hand movements.

“We sorcerers harness energy, drawn from other dimensions of the universe to cast spells…to conjure shields…and weapons…to make _magic_.” As she finished, a beautiful mandala of magic could be seen, the product of her speech. It faded out before either Harry or Stark could properly look at it. “You, however, are one of the few of this world to possess natural magic. I have met others, during my life, with such abilities. The common term for such a practitioner is a witch, although, if that term offends your gendered sensibilities, you may consider yourself a wizard. Unlike the magic of sorcerers, however, your magic stems from your own body; you must begin to study and learn it, for the safety of all.”

“…that’s a nice speech and all, but it doesn’t solve him being _bedbound,_ ” Stark said, only receiving a slightly larger smile in return. Harry found her equal parts fascinating and infuriating, silently agreeing with Stark’s assessment.

“You are correct, but that is due to the…unusualness of Mr Potter’s presence here. His magic is adapting to the form of _this_ reality, evolving to allow it to be used according to the laws of _this_ universe. Whatever the reason may be, this reality allows him to store a greater deal of mystical energy within his own body, and to replenish it just as quickly. Soon, his body will adapt to this influx of power…but when it does, even the basics he had learnt in his universe will be outside of his abilities to cast. He will need to adapt his spellcasting to the rules of this plane of existence…which is where I come in.” slowly, she raised her legs to sit cross-legged…in the air.

“I will train him in the Eldritch magic we sorcerers use, and for his own magic, he can learn from the vast libraries we possess. If I am correct, a great many abilities will be available to him just by his intent alone…. but for the betterment of all, the more he studies, the safer this world will be.”

Stark’s jaw and shoulders had tensed at that last part, although why Harry didn’t know. Despite how heavy and uncooperative his body was, he did manage a slight nod when Stark looked his way.

If she was telling the truth – as Harry thought she was – then this would be a golden opportunity to learn magic, something he had thought he’d have to do without ever since he had lost his wand. He was still a little confused about the difference between his own magic and the golden lines of light she used – that Eldritch stuff – but…he loved magic a lot.

Stark sighed but nodded.

“I’ll be doing a thorough background check-”

“I wish you the best of luck with that.” She interrupted, making Stark narrow his eyes.

“-but, how will we contact you?”

“Hm? Oh, here’s my phone number.” She handed over a slip of paper to the man. Before he could question _how_ she had a phone, since she dressed like a technophobic monk, she fell through a portal beneath her.

Which vanished the next moment.

~HP¦MCU~

Two days of only eating broth later, Harry awoke feeling…fine.

There was no pain, nor an abundance of energy. He just felt, normal.

Same height. Still unhealthily skinny. Still couldn’t see without his glasses.

Harry felt a little disappointed.

Jarvis informed him, after he had checked his reflection in the bathroom mirror and brushed his teeth, that Stark had been informed of his now wakeful state, and would be expecting him in the penthouse sitting area.

Harry…wasn’t sure what to think of everything, if he were honest with himself. Mr Stark had been unprecedently kind to him, offering him not only a place in his home but giving him food and clothes (for all that he’d used them during his unconscious stint)… but no one had ever been like that with Harry. Hagrid had been the first adult to show even a passing care, and the Hogwarts staff either loathed him (Snape), cared for him without showing it (McGonagall) or were just…indifferent (the rest of them). Stark had stayed mostly by his bedside when he was unable to move much, and before that, just treated him…well, like a kid who was deserving of his own opinions).

Harry was of the firm belief that Stark would make a good father one day. So, forcing himself to relax, Harry dressed in more of the clothes Stark had gotten for him, and ventured out of his room for the first time in three days.

To be greeted by the joyous scent of pancakes.

“Hey kid, fancy joining me?” Tony gestured to the abundance of pancakes in front of him, looking as if he were contemplating all the intricacies of the universe…rather than choosing a crepe to eat.

“Sure…you ok?”

“I’m deciding between banoffee-bonanza and coco-ocolypse.”

“Why not both?”

“Because one of them is Pepper’s favourite…and if I eat it, well, you don’t wanna know.”

“Right…” Harry sent _a look_ to the ceiling, in the hopes Jarvis may save him from the…complexities of adults, although it was to no avail.

“Which one are you having?”

“Um, lemon and sugar?”

“…you’re so British. Go ahead, I’ll join you once I’ve chosen my fate.” Doing as instructed, Harry perched himself on one of the kitchen island’s stools, eyeing Stark’s form warily.

“Are you ok?” Harry said, a few minutes after Stark had just…zoned out.

“Hm? Oh, yeah, just, you know” Stark waved a hand dismissively. Harry did _not_ know.

An awkward silence fell over the two, Harry finishing his meal rather quickly…and still feeling hungry. He felt awkward asking for more though.

“Help yourself if you want more” Stark said absently, although Harry’s stunned expression brought him out of it.

“How did you-?”

“Sandra said you’d be eating more until your body balances itself out.”

“…Who’s Sandra?”

“Hm? Oh, yellow-robed bald lady. She popped in yesterday while you were still out, and just told me to feed you up...and you’re stick thin, what did they feed you there? It wasn’t chickpeas was it?”

“Er, they didn’t really feed me…and why Sandra?” Stark’s eyes narrowed.

“Don’t think we won’t come back to _that_ titbit, Glinda. And she still won’t give me a name, and Jarvis has no idea who she is, so Sandra it is.”

“Er, right. Thank you. Who’s Glinda?”

“You’ve never seen the Wizard of Oz?” Harry shook his head, watching as Stark clutched his chest dramatically.

“Lord of the Rings?”

“…how can you be a lord of a ring?” Stark made a pained noise.

“Star Wars?”

“…will you honestly be surprised if I said no?”

“Doctor Who?”

“I think you should just presume my answer will be no, like, in general.”

“You poor child.”

~HP¦MCU~

“So what did they teach you at your school?” The Ancient One said the day after, both her and Harry hidden away on the gymnasium floor. Stark had given it to them for the day (although they all knew he would be taking readings throughout) when the woman had casually appeared through a portal during breakfast.

Harry was still yet to meet anyone else bar Mr. Banner, so it had just been him and Stark until she showed up.

“Er, well, it was mostly ‘ this is a spell, this is what it does, try and do it’” Harry said after a few moments. Somehow, despite her face not moving away from that all-knowing smile, she looked disappointed. At Harry’s crestfallen look, she elaborated.

“It is no judgement on you, Mr. Potter, merely on those who taught you. For our lessons, which will be every-other-day, we will consider the practical applications of magic. But, for the days in between, you will have to read up on the texts I give unto you. Now, what can you do?”

“…huh?”

“What can you do with your magic? Fundamentally, it is different from the Eldritch magic I will teach you, but it will still want to be used. Anything you can tell me as to its capabilities will help me, and you, in the long run.”

“Right, er…” Harry thought back to his first-year spells, “I could make things float, unlock doors, transfigure matches into pins, and a few defensive spells.”

“And have you tried doing any of those here?” Harry shook his head, to which she nodded. She pulled a single thread from her clothing before placing it on the floor.

“Attempt to make this float”

“But…I don’t have a wand?”

“Your magic has adapted to the rules of this universe; it stands to reason, then, that the spells you are capable of casting would still be available to you.”

“Right, um, _Wingardium Leviosa_ ” Harry felt like a fool as he pointed a finger towards the thread.

Except his fingertip became covered in dark-green magic – as did the thread, which shot up towards the ceiling. A small _puff_ of concrete dust fell from the hole it made.

“That is a quite deal more than ‘making something float’, Mr Potter.”

“I have no idea how I did that…it’s not meant to do that.”

“How does it normally work?”

“It just… _floats,_ ” Harry said, cursing the ineloquence of his answer.

“Does it allow an item to float when it is already in the air, or does it propel the item into the air from a standing position?”

“The last one, I think.”

“Well then, it seems that the spell does not make something _float_ , but adds upwards momentum to the item.”

“But…it’s meant to float.” She gave him a fond look.

“Perhaps you should forget the expectations your world gave you, hmm?” Harry nodded, eyeing the thread as it fell through the air between them.

The thoughtful silence broke as the door to the gym shot open, its metal clanging into the wall without a care – replaced by Stark’s wide-eyed excitement.

“Do it again!” the manic grin was more comedic than it was terrifying (just), drawing a chuckle from Harry. The Ancient One gave him a book on magic fundamentals before leaving the two to it, not that her exit was noticed by the two.

By the end of the afternoon, the gym’s ceiling was ruined, Harry was exhausted, and Stark was sent on a research frenzy at the younger’s ability to turn common things into upwards-facing bullets.


	5. Study and Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry begins his studies under the Ancient One's tutelage...and completely forgot his birthday was coming up.

_July 2012_

“So, I have questions.”

“As do most who begin the study of the mystic arts but go on.” The two were no longer in the gym – owing to it being redecorated (with a metal roof now) – and so were in the penthouse. Stark was in his lab due to having procrastinated his Tesseract project (but was definitely making Jarvis watch things, in case anything interesting happened again).

“How many dimensions are there? Because the book says that you draw power from various dimensions to power spells.”

“That is correct, and truthfully, no one has any idea. The Multiverse is as vast as you can imagine, and then, perhaps, more so. We, as sorcerers, tap into the energy of this multiverse for the majority of our spells, although additional abilities can be found amongst individual universes and…certain beings.”

“But why doesn’t everyone learn it?”

“The mystic arts are not something that all can handle, and even then, there are some who should not be given the power of them. Can you not think of anyone from your world who should not have been taught magic?” Harry nodded; Voldemort and his Death Eaters came to mind.

“But what if someone learns them and decides to take over the world?” Because honestly? Harry knew _that_ was a highly likely result.

“That is where I, as sorcerer supreme, come in. Tell me, have you been told of the events that occurred before your arrival on this world?”

“Er, not all of them, but I know about the invasion” which was mostly because there had been a god in the floor and a giant-space-slug in the street.

“Then you might wonder why I, or the other masters, were not part of the defence?” Harry _hadn’t_ thought of that…but that did raise a good question.

“Why weren’t you?” Harry asked, head tilted in curiosity. Standing from her previously seated position, the Ancient One began to pace as she talked, occasionally making eye contact.

“At its core, the Universe desires balance. Equilibrium. Reality is quite happy for the universe to deteriorate out of existence _if_ that process was natural. However, there are certain items in creation that pose a threat to this process – and, if certain beings got hold of these items, they could use them to bend the universe to their will.”

“What could be strong enough to do _that_?” she sent him a nod – a good question asked – before holding out her hand. on her palm, six stones appeared. An illusion.

“They are called infinity stones. Each governs an aspect of the universe in which they exist, and each are capable of astronomical damage to those who can use them.”

“But, why would one be _here?_ ” if they existed in the universe, why would one be on Earth? Not that Harry knew of other planets by name, other than Asgard.

“The one which opened the portal above New York was not always on this planet – it was once in the halls of Asgard, if my memory is correct. It is referred to as the Space stone.”

“And Loki just _happened_ to have it?”

“It was in SHIELD’s ownership before Loki’s, but we are getting off-topic. The universe desires balance, and when an individual – or group – attempts to break this balance, forces align against them. The being who began the hunt for these stones caused the universe to respond…which is where the ‘Avengers’ come in. More powers and individuals will appear in response to this universe-call for aid.”

“…is that why I’m here?” Harry asked, feeling all of his eleven-years of life pile onto his shoulders. He couldn’t even lift a thread without blowing a hole in the ceiling.

“Perhaps your universe decided to help out this one, or you were sent for some other reason…but I don’t think it was a mistake that you ended up here, Mr Potter. I do not know what you will become, but that is part of human life. Now, onto my original point. Whilst the Avengers have arisen due to the physical threat posed to the Earth, we sorcerers deal with more mystical threats. Dimensional beings seeking to end our world or reality; rogue sorcerers attempting to enslave others; cosmic entities looking for a challenge…it is our responsibility to protect the Earth from these threats.”

“But others don’t know? Like, the non-magical humans don’t know about it?”

“Occasionally one or two has enough natural talent to be able to witness certain events, which usually become folklore or myth when recited or written down, but such tales are often considered the work of fiction. If the world discovered our capabilities, most would try to become us, some would try to eliminate us, and others would aim to study us. This is why we do not engage in physical altercations visible to others unless absolutely necessary…but, those with personal magics can be more…public.”

“What do you mean?” Harry felt like he was saying that a lot in this conversation.

“Humanity considers such individuals as, shall we say, anomalies. Consider the Avengers; Tony Stark has intelligence that is far beyond most in the world, Steve Rogers possesses superhuman abilities, the Hulk is an anomaly in himself, born from Bruce Banner’s intellect, Thor Odinson is a god, Natasha Romanoff is an elite spy, whose only challenge would be in the form of Clint Barton. The world sees these people as unique beings, so there is little risk – they cannot be replicated, or at least, not easily. Now, consider what would happen if there were hundreds of super-soliders studying somewhere, who appeared to deal with a crisis: what would be the result once the issue had been dealt with?”

“People would question their rights or try and experiment on them?”

“You are partially correct…but you’re a little young for me to go into the gory possibilities. To put that conversation to one side for the moment: if you, as a being who has his own magic were to be seen in public using your abilities, you would be one such anomaly. Some would want to run tests of you or capture you, but you would be too far into the public eye for there not to be an investigation from others if anything happened: if, for example, someone captured Tony Stark, the U.S. government would attempt to bring him back whatever the cost, due to his capabilities.”

“But I’m not important enough for that,”

“You underestimate yourself.” She said with a mildly reproachful look, continuing on before Harry could feel awkward, “but the case remains that you are in a unique position to help others, should you choose to do so.”

“Well obviously I-“

“You are eleven, Mr Potter. No one is expecting it of you.”

“ _But_ if I can do all these crazy things, and something bad happens that _I_ could stop…isn’t that my fault for not acting?”

A soft smile, unlike her normal one, took over her features.

“And that is why I am willing to teach you magic at your age. Few develop such an outlook even in adulthood. But, for all that your selflessness is a good trait, do not let it overcome you; your own desires and wants are important. Do not dedicate your existence to saving others if you do not live in the process.”

Harry nodded, the conversation having turned rather serious.

“Now, in the meantime, I think we can begin practising. Each afternoon I will teach you hand-to-hand combat, which can later incorporate magic to more effectively fight a person, and in the mornings, we will begin the physical practice of magic. In your free time, practice your own magic and we will catch-up on that front every-two-weeks. Now, these are for you.” She drew a circle in the air with one hand, a small portal appearing soon after. She stuck her hand through and brought a pile of white fabric out before it closed.

“These are your robes. Grey is the colour for a novice practitioner and should be worn throughout our studies. When you become a Master of the Mystic Arts, you will have the ability to craft and design your own robes.” She placed them in his open arms. Mercifully, there seemed to be two sets.

“So that’s why yours are yellow?”

“…well yes, but it’s mostly because I like the colour. I have a set of intimidating robes when battling dimensional-threats. Now, we’ll end today’s session here, but you’ll need to begin reading these and finish them by next week” she again created a portal through which she pulled out a set of three tomes, which she deposited onto Harry’s pile of robes. His arms ached a little under the strain. 

“ _The Book of the Invisible Sun, Astronomia Nova,_ and _Codex Imperium_?” Harry read out, turning his head to read each book’s spine.

“Hmm. You might also want to begin learning Latin, if only because your natural magic seems attuned to the language.” Harry mentally thanked her for not adding another book to the pile in his arms.

“Oh! One more!” the _Key of Solomon_ appeared above his pile via portal, the sound of book-hitting-book echoing a little in the penthouse. Harry felt his arms begin to shake. “Now you’ll also want to be eating more; both because it will replace the energy you will use, and because your physical density increases as you become exposed to cosmic energies. With your personal magic as well, you’ll have an increased metabolism, so have multiple snacks on hand.”

“I think I need some paper or something to write this down.”

“I have already informed Mr Stark, Harry,” Jarvis said throughout the room, making Harry jump. He’d forgotten the A.I. was there, although the Ancient One was annoyingly unfazed.

“…thanks, Jarvis. So why weren’t you fighting the aliens?”

“Oh, well, there are three sanctums…”

~HP¦MCU~

“Why are words?” Harry said, collapsing face-first onto a sofa. Stark, who had been reading something on a tablet, chuckled. “You’re evil.”

“Why thank you. How’s the algebra?”

“Letters don’t belong in math,” Harry said, voice muffled by the infuriatingly soft couch. It didn’t deserve to be that comfortable when beneath Harry’s rage.

Stark had, once the Ancient one left that morning, presented him with a horrid timetable for normal-human subjects, accounting for his studies with the Ancient One – who he still insisted on calling Sandra. Apparently, just because he was a witch didn’t mean he got out of learning like a normal school student. And because the man obviously hated him, his first lessons were physics, chemistry, biology, and math.

They were taught to him by both Stark and Banner as they created their tesseract-device, but they had a tendency to start at ‘x=7’ and end up with string theory.

Harry’s poor brain was fried, and that was before he had even opened up his magic books. One day of studying had been more effective than a Dark Lord at killing him.

“It’s not _that_ bad-“

“What are quarks? Why are quarks? I cannot-“

“Ok, that one’s on me, we’ll stick to the basics next time.”

“ _Next time!?_ ”

“Yup, your afternoons on your free days are for studying.”

“But _why_?”

“Well it’s expected I guess-“

“No, I mean” Harry began turning his head to look at Stark, “why are you doing all this for me? You could have just given me to someone to take care of. Like, I understand not wanting to give someone over to a suspicious government agency or put them out on the streets…but aren’t I just wasting your time? You’re a superhero and you’re busy doing…superhero things.” It had been on his mind for a while actually; why this stranger was just willing to let him into his home, provide for him and all. People just…weren’t like that, in Harry’s experience. Even if the reason was for ‘scientific investigation’, that didn’t mean the guy had to chat to him or…let him learn about magic or muggle subjects.

Stark looked up from his tablet, a contemplative look on his face. He seemed to be carefully choosing his words.

“You remind me of me.” Which sounded nice and all but didn’t answer Harry’s question. Stark took the hint to elaborate when Harry didn’t respond, although only after an incredibly fake put-upon sigh.

“Kid, even if you didn’t have the ability to harness and process dark energy, you’re still just a kid. Jarvis and I don’t trust SHIELD as far as we could throw them, so that was a non-starter, and if you were just…sent somewhere, I’d feel guilty if anything happened. But, well, more than that, you remind me a bit of myself at your age.”

“But that can’t be reason enough to, like, keep me.”

“Why not?” Harry didn’t have an answer for that, although Stark didn’t give him much time to before carrying on, “I will be the first to admit I have zero experience with children, but you’re not a regular kid Harry. You’re intelligent, self-sufficient, toilet-trained-“

“You make me sound like a golden retriever”

“I was thinking more a little terrier, since you’re British and all, but whatever. You’re a good kid, and like any decent adult, I’d much rather know you were safe and happy than in some institution somewhere…now, can we save the self-loathing until Saturday, and start Doctor Who?” he tapped a few things on his tablet, the large television on the wall turning on in response. Thankfully he ignored Harry’s thunderstruck expression. This guy was too kind for his own good.

“Why Saturday?”

“Self-loathing Saturday has a better ring to it than sad-times Wednesday. Now, Jarvis? Order us some food. Kid? Prepare to watch one of the U.K.’s greatest ever achievements.”

“Thank you, Mr Stark.”

“Call me Tony kid, everyone does.”

“…do I still have to do algebra?”

“Hush, but yes. Now watch the guy get eaten by a bin.”

~HP¦MCU~

Time passed quickly after that evening for Harry. He met Pepper the day after who looked moments away from cooing at him (which would have caused Harry to self-destruct in embarrassment) although her kind nature was reassuring to the pre-teen. He’d stop for small conversation whenever she was around, often making her an extra portion for lunch or dinner when he cooked – Tony didn’t like him cooking (especially not after a heart-to-heart about the Dursley’s treatment of him) but it was Harry’s way of showing he was both thankful and that he cared for them (and the billionaire couldn’t argue with that). He had even learned to make vegan cuisine to give to Bruce, who looked constantly surprised at his lack of fear towards him.

Harry just thought the Hulk was kind of cool.

Then there was the studying, which had quickly progressed from bane-of-his-existence to huh, kinda fun. His experience in primary school and at Hogwarts was nothing like learning with two geniuses and an A.I. who taught him everything else; they didn’t demean him like Snape or give a long-suffering sigh when he didn’t immediately grasp something like some of his other professors. It was, well, nice.

The Ancient One was keeping him strictly on theory at the moment for actual magic but had begun to teach him her own unique style of hand-to-hand combat. It infuriated Harry just a smidge at how effortless her fighting style was, since more often than not he tripped over himself (which had added yoga to his list of daily-tasks, to improve his balance) when trying to emulate her. Her style was impressive without magic, but when she demonstrated adding Eldritch magic to the mix – Tao half-mandalas in the shape of war-fans– Harry could see how it could be a deadly fighting style to have. That, and it looked _really really cool_.

Harry would strive to be _that_ cool one day…just as soon as he could stand on one foot without falling over.

But then, over a month of being in the new world, Harry was cornered. By a billionaire genius.

“So, Sandra tells me it’s your birthday,” Tony said, which would have been fine if a) Harry hadn’t been fast asleep, b) the vent in his room wasn’t spewing glitter and confetti everywhere, and c) Jarvis wasn’t playing ‘Happy Birthday’ inordinately loudly.

Admittedly it was the morning, but as he had every year, he had stayed awake the evening before to witness the clock turning to midnight – and thinking that, for the second year in a row, his life had been turned upside down.

In the moments it took him to awaken though, it was not annoyance or anger Harry felt at being awoken so, well, violently – it was joy. Unadulterated happiness.

Because he’d never had someone else excited for _his_ birthday before. In a flash he jumped out of bed, tackling the man in a hug. Laughter fell from them both even as they fell to the floor, surplus confetti cushioning the fall.

Yeah, Harry could get used to spending his birthdays waking up to that. Although he’d have to get back at the Ancient One for her plotting with Tony.

~HP¦MCU~

The day was relaxed and calm, for all that Tony looked to be bouncing in his seat whenever Harry looked over. Pepper shot them both fond looks throughout the day (which was spent mostly eating and watching television) whilst Harry wound up refusing ninety-percent of Tony’s gifts…he didn’t need a home in Miami thank you, nor…a private jet. The guy was giving to the extreme.

He did, begrudgingly, accept a pre-paid card for him to buy ‘whatever he liked’ (Pepper promised to take him around the city at some point to spend it) although Tony didn’t say how much was on the card (only saying ‘enough’ which Harry rolled his eyes at). Tony had wanted to take him to private theatres and the like, but Pepper wisely vetoed that idea: New York was still recovering from the alien invasion, and it might not be wise to expose Harry to the public so drastically – a child with Tony Stark? Twitter (whatever that was) would explode.

Speaking of, Jarvis had gotten him the newest StarkPhone, which Harry may or may not have shed a tear over – an A.I. was _that_ thoughtful? _How_?

But then he remembered that Jarvis had been created by Tony, so that made more sense.

Bruce had given him a book on yoga and meditation (and Harry _needed_ them, honestly) whilst the Ancient One had given him a single silver-hooped earing. Harry had opened its case with…well, a blank expression. His ears weren’t pierced or anything, so…was this a hint? At his blank look, she explained.

“Some sorcerers channel cosmic energy into their own bodies to…correct medical conditions. Your eyesight is a tactical weakness, and until you can get it corrected when you’re older, this will allow you to see without glasses by channelling such cosmic energies.” He had thanked her profusely and had asked Pepper to take him somewhere to get his ear pierced when they popped out (under Tony’s stern-but-smiling face of ‘disapproval’).

Each part of his day was a new experience, and he was honestly sure he’d never smiled so much in one day before.

But, as all things must, the day drew to a close.

Harry, for as much as he enjoyed the day – it would, most definitely, be one of his most treasured memories – found himself thinking back of the two lives he’d left behind. One that he was more than happy to let rot and be forgotten; his time at the Dursleys, and their unexplained hatred of him. The other, however, was far harder to distance himself from; Hogwarts and magic had opened up a whole new world, one which he felt _part of_. He’d made his first friend in Hedwig, met his first _human_ in Hagrid, and befriended two children his age in Hermione and Ron…

For all that this world was _amazing_ , and…he couldn’t really find it in himself to regret coming here, that night, he shed a tear or two over those he had left behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've actually just finished writing Chapter 8, so do expect regular updates - I'll let you know if they'll be slower, for any reason. 
> 
> Thank you for all the support! For those curious, Peter will enter the fic towards the end, setting up the events of Book 2! As it stands, Harry is just 12, so nothing much will happen until he's older! 
> 
> Also disclosure: Harry is not going to get overpowered overnight. He's twelve. The longer the fic gets, the more powers and abilities he'll have.
> 
> Stay safe everyone! : )


	6. Progression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry begins using Eldritch magic, does a bit of shopping with Pepper and Happy, and has a bit of an issue with one of the Avengers

_August 2012_

Harry had awoken that morning _excited_.

Which, to be fair, was his usual mood these days. Perhaps not every twelve-year-old would appreciate daily lessons (bar Sundays) or the, frankly intimidating, amount of books that were now piled in his room…but Harry did.

On occasion, he’d think about how the Dursleys weren’t there to belittle his intelligence or to chastise him when he did better than Dudley. Ron wasn’t there to complain about the workload. Hermione wasn’t there to make Harry feel bad about not having read two-hundred books that week. He missed his world at times…but not so much the flaws of the people he knew.

But today… well, today he was starting _magic_.

The Ancient One had been teaching him a little over a month by this point, and whilst Harry enjoyed the lectures of mystic energies and the practising of martial arts (his balance was _finally_ improving) today, he’d get the chance to create a fiery mandala.

Alas, it was not as easy as he had hoped.

“It just _won’t work_!” Harry said in annoyance during that morning lesson, shaking his hands as if that would help. The Ancient One was sat in a corner watching on, drinking tea quite contently.

“I thought this would happen,” she said, sipping her tea as Harry turned slowly towards her, face the picture of betrayal.

“I’m glad you did because I thought, well-“

“You’d do it on the first try?”

“…No, but maybe _by the fiftieth!_ ” she sipped her tea again.

“You’ve been counting?”

“Well, no, but it’s got to be about that by now.”

“You’re close, that was attempt forty-eight.”

“ _Ugh_.”

“Come and sit. Have some tea.” She poured out another cup for him as he came over, taking a seat opposite the woman with a small table between them. He thanked her for the drink.

And took a sip.

_Damn._

“That’s…good tea.”

“Thank you. Now, why do you think you have not made any progress yet?” she wasn’t looking at him as she spoke, instead, she was looking out across the New York skyline through the window they were sat by. Harry mirrored her actions.

It was beautiful to look at.

“I don’t know. Ever time it feels like I’m getting close, my magic just…activates.” This was true; in his latest attempts, rather than the fiery eldritch magic he was aiming for, his hands would just…glow with green magic and nothing would happen. She nodded.

“If you imagine each magic is behind a different door, and each one requires a different key to access, could you think why you might have failed so far?” she poured herself a fresh cup from the teapot on the table, scooping some honey whilst Harry thought it over.

“I’ve been using the wrong key?”

“Perhaps,” she said, nodding lightly, “You are in a better position than some others, as you _know_ magic exists, so you are under no preconceived notions as to its possibility. But, equally, because you can access two different types of magic, you must learn how to activate each in turn. Using the wrong key in the right door will net no results, just as using the wrong door with the right key.” Harry nodded, a sigh befalling his lips.

“I just…I don’t know how to do it.”

“No one does when they first begin something. The greatest artists were not born with an ability to paint beautifully, nor were writers born with the gift of words. Practice, Harry, and the time will come where you can access both magics with ease. For now, lets move away from conjuring and instead consider a different ability; Astral Projection. Now, you have read the necessary texts…what skill do I refer to?”

“The ability to separate the soul from the body,” Harry said obediently. He remembered reading _that_ and having a bit of an existential crisis.

“Correct. But there are greater things to consider than the separation of physical form and the spiritual. What else do you know of the skill?”

“Um, the soul exists upon the astral plane rather than the physical one, but can interact with this dimension because you become a being of pure energy.”

“Correct again. Now, normally this would only be taught to those of Apprentice rank or above, but you have already begun the necessary meditative arts needed to begin the process. On the safe side, you’ll only practice it in our morning sessions, but in the meantime, focus on distinguishing the two different magics in your possession…huh” for the first time since Harry knew her, the Ancient One looked surprised.

It may, admittedly, be due to Harry’s astral form waving at her whilst his physical from fell off his chair. His excitement at having entered the astral dimension was short-lived, however.

The Ancient One joined him, except when her spirit left her body, time seemed to _slow_ around them. The birds flying outside froze in place; the steam from their tea pausing as it rose. At Harry’s dumbfounded look, his tutor smiled.

“Time passes differently in this dimension than the material one, although, I must say I am surprised at how quickly you managed this feat. But, since you can, you are now capable of revising when asleep.”

“Huh?”

“A sorcerer can enter their astral form whilst their physical form sleeps, enabling them to watch for threats or learn additional material.” Her image flickered as she entered her physical form, with Harry doing the same soon after. As he was picking himself up from the floor though, she summoned…at least fifty books.

“Wha-?”

“Whilst your conjuring is not yet up to speed, that does not mean you cannot make the most of the additional study time you now have access to.”

“But – but, where am I going to put them all?”

“Perhaps a bookshelf? They’ll disappear once you have read them, to go back to our libraries.”

“Will I ever get to go to one of the Sanctums?” Harry asked. They’d already had the discussion on the Earth-sized forcefield powered by the sanctums, and Harry _really_ wanted to see one. He hadn’t even left the tower yet…which reminded him of Pepper’s offer to take him shopping.

“When you are ready. Now, let us practise your footwork. It was painfully easy to trip you last time.” Harry sighed but nodded, leaving the tea and piles of books by the window seat to go to the practice mats. As normal, his ass was about to be handed to him.

Although, at the end of the session, when the Ancient One left to go back to her home, Harry was happy to see a bag of loose-leaf tea left on top of the books for him.

~HP¦MCU~

_September 2012_

Due to being the CEO of Stark Industries, finding a moment for Pepper to take him around New York had been tricky. The first opportunity arose a month after Harry’s success when Astral projecting (which, when Tony found out, resulted in a whole afternoon of breaking science’s take on the soul).

Harry hadn’t realised how stuffy the tower had become until he had ventured outside, Pepper and her driver/bodyguard Happy – a name Harry thought was an adjective but sure – leading him out the building and into the morning sun. New York, it appeared, was never _quiet_ , but it was better to shop in the morning than the afternoon…apparently.

It was good that Harry was used to people looking at him though since it only took ten minutes of them being out in public before the reporters descended upon them. Like flies to honey, they seemed to come from every direction in pursuit of a story.

It was the first time Harry saw Pepper _angry_ , and kind of understood why Tony wouldn’t dare to eat her dessert.

“Tell me, do you enjoy your job?” She asked one rather brave/foolish reporter, who had come inches away from Harry’s face, to which Harry had flinched back. The man looked like he regretted it immediately when Pepper smiled at him, not an ounce of warmth in her expression.

“Hmm? Nothing to say?” the man shook his head, unaware that the towering Happy now stood behind him.

“Well, how about this? You and your group can run off for now, and if you have questions, you can ask them at a press conference next week. Now, if you don’t leave, well…Stark industries may have to get your company investigated for the endangering of a minor.” Harry doubted he was in danger but considering the weight Pepper and Tony could throw around, he didn’t doubt the threat.

The man let out an _eep_ when be backed into Happy’s suit-clad chest, he and the rest of the reporters scattering soon after – although Harry could still see them nearby.

“They’ll stick to distance-shots for a while, so, where do you want to go?” She said, her entire expression shifting from ice-cold to tender in seconds. Harry was impressed.

In the end, he wound up buying himself some clothes – clothes that _fit_ – his ear pierced so as to use the Ancient One’s birthday present, a Doctor Who poster for Tony, and a bookcase for his room.

The fact he was able to afford all of that, and still had money leftover according to Pepper, was insane to Harry – he’d need to make it up to Tony, although how he wasn’t sure.

~HP¦MCU~

“Er, Tony? Why’s the kid still here?”

Both Harry and Tony looked up from where they were sat in the lab, the former completing his latest physics tasks, the later putting the finishing touches upon the Space-traversing device housing the Tesseract.

Harry, now knowing that an _infinity stone_ lived inside the cube, kept shooting it suspicious looks.

But neither had expected to have been interrupted: Bruce had gone to update Thor and Loki on the device (the god of mischief was wary around the man, rightfully so), and Pepper would always knock before entering.

Captain Steve Rogers, did not.

“Because I said he could be,” Tony said, not looking up from his screen.

“ _Tony_ ” to think one man could fill one word with _that_ much judgement, well, Harry was a little impressed. Or he would be if it weren’t targeted towards Tony.

“Yes?”

“Should you be looking after a kid?”

“I don’t know, should you be wearing tight-ass spandex? Probably not.”

“This isn’t a joke Tony.”

“So what is it Cap?” Tony looked up from his screen, both men staring each other down. Harry felt the tension rise in the room just a fraction.

“I…” the blonde looked uncomfortable, his jaw tense – as if knowing what he was about to say would not be taken well.

“Come on, out with it.”

“I don’t think you should be caring for a kid.”

“So good to know you have faith in me, Cap.” Tony looked back to his screens, effectively dismissing the conversation. Harry, physics work long forgotten, frowned at the tension that had shot across Tony’s shoulders. The guy was _tense_.

“You know what I mean Tony.”

“Well I’m not sure I do, but why are you here?”

“Fury wants an update on the kid, so I offered because-“

“Because you wanted to know why he was still here, with _me_.” Rogers didn’t reply, although that was answer enough, “So, what’s the real reason you’re here? I’ve been sending Fury updates once a month, and expressly told him Harry was _not a threat_ and should just be allowed to be a kid.” The staring match was back on, although Harry was too busy considering the blatant lie Tony had told on his behalf. Roger’s jaw tensed.

“I don’t think you should keep the kid. He’d be better off with someone else.” Rogers said finally, eyes challenging Tony to disagree.

“Why?” Harry’s question was firm and sure, eyeing the super-solider with a blank look. Tony seemed to tense even more next to him.

“Kid, you don’t know him, you’ll be better off-“

“Where, exactly?”

“..what?”

“You’re saying I shouldn’t be with Mr Stark, but you’re not saying where I should go instead.”

“Stark isn’t someone who should be around kids-“

“Why?

“Huh?”

“Why shouldn’t I be around him? you keep saying things without any reason.”

“He’s a playboy.”

“Who was willing to sacrifice himself for you all.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Isn’t it?”

Clearly, Rogers wasn’t someone who was regularly questioned, but Harry wasn’t about to back down. Not when Tony had done so much for him (and the city). This man, for all that he fought too, could go and sit on a cactus.

“He’s not a good father figure-“

“And you are?”

“I wouldn’t say-“

“You know, over the past few months I’ve been here, Jarvis has given me things to read all about you and the other ‘Avengers’…and you, I think, have one of the most interesting histories. Super solider who wanted to fight for his country. Commendable, I suppose, but that doesn’t mean you get to decide what is right and what is wrong, especially when you have ideas that belong in the last century.” Harry said, the words spilling out of him quickly. Rogers looked as if he’d been slapped.

“Stark, let SHIELD know if anything changes. I’ll be seeing you kid” the blonde left after that, the tension in the air leaving with him. Tony sagged in his chair.

“He’s right you know,” Tony said, eyes resolutely on the screen and not on Harry, who turned to face him.

“Like shit he is.”

“I have been instructed to chastise the use of crude langu-“

“Not now Jarvis” Tony said, although he smiled at his A.I.’s attempt at censorship. “He’s right in that I’ve led a bit of a…hedonistic lifestyle. Lot of mistakes.”

“I don’t know what that word means, but we all make mistakes, I guess. You’ve done more for me than anyone else ever has, so…I’d like to stay if I could.”

“I’m not going to send you away kid.”

“Good, because we’ve almost finished season two of Doctor Who and I need to know why you start crying whenever Rose is on screen.”

“You’re not ready.”

Tension effectively resolved, the two fell back into a comfortable silence. On occasion, Harry would ask a question for a concept he was still struggling with, or Tony would curse at a small issue in his program, but it was calm.

The altercation with the Captain was put aside, although Harry wouldn’t soon forget the man’s attitude.

“Would you like me to remove the crude-language censor, since it is ignored anyway, Sir?”

“Probably for the best, yeah.”

~HP¦MCU~

Later that month Harry watched as the two Asgardians were sent back home, witnessing the event by being in his Astral form. SHIELD would have taken him away for questioning – to say nothing of the media, who were filled with questions ever since Pepper’s press release (a lot of words with little actually said). Theories were developing by the day on sites like Twitter and Reddit – Harry finally knew what they were – so it was safer for Harry, at least physically, to stay inside.

He had the sneaking suspicion that Loki knew he had been there though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I do like Steve, but the animosity between him and Tony is integral to both this plot, and the MCU (what with Civil War and everything). Steve, also, tends to act for what he believes to be good, rather than thinking things through. 
> 
> He will grow as a character! But Tony's insecurities are important to note since they'll fuel a bit of Iron Man 3/Chapter 8. 
> 
> Also, Harry's been living with Tony and studying under the Ancient One: he can, most definitely, hold his own in an argument by this point :D. 
> 
> Stay safe folks.


	7. Familiarity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Progress in his magic studies leads to some interesting results, and Harry bonds more with Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in one day? I stun myself.

_1st October 2012_

“You care for him a great deal”

“I’d be in some lab somewhere without him, yeah”

“It is more than simple gratitude, is it not?”

“Do we have to talk about this now?”

“Why not now? Time is immaterial when it does not pass.”

“I thought we were here to question my footwork?”

“We are, but that does not mean other things cannot be considered.”

As was the norm on training days, Harry’s afternoon was spent practicing against the Ancient One in hand-to-hand combat. He’d made a great deal of progress in the months he’d been practicing (aided by regular yoga and a _lot_ of good food) although still couldn’t dent his teacher’s defence. Most of the time she was able to trip him up without Harry even knowing what was going on.

Which led to these moments: both would enter the astral plane the _second_ Harry lost, allowing both to look at the exact issue with his footwork, stance, or just general ability.

Unusually today, Tony was in the room with them….with a little hand-held flag saying ‘go Harry’ on them. The embarrassment had warred with warmth in Harry’s stomach.

“…I’m worried about him,” Harry said finally, the Ancient One having waited for his response.

“Why might that be?”

“He hasn’t said anything, but I don’t think he’s sleeping much.”

“Why do you think he hasn’t said anything?”

“Because he doesn’t want anyone to worry? But that _makes_ me worry.”

“You are only twelve, Harry, what do you think you could do to help?”

“That’s the thing! I _don’t know_.” A frustrated huff left his lips, their analysis of the fight forgotten.

“Harry, you are only young, you should not be expected to fix any problem that arises.”

“I _know_ , I just…I’d like him to be happy.” She nodded in understanding, turning back to his frozen physical body.

“Do you know where you went wrong here?”

“Footwork?” Harry said, thankful for the change in conversation. ‘footwork’ was a guess though, even if that was usually the answer.

“You were distracted.”

“Well yeah, Tony’s been shouting the entire time.”

“In a fight, all manner of distractions could occur. Deal with the immediate threat, and only focus on others when necessary.” Harry nodded with a sigh – it was a logical thing to do, but it didn’t make it easier. “That being said, always be aware of your surroundings.”

“That seems like a lot to manage.”

“It is. Getting into good habits now will help you later. Now, let's go again.”

~HP¦MCU~

_8 th October 2012_

“…did I just?”

“I believe you did.” She said, a chuckle in her tone at Harry’s dumbfounded look. He’d produced a spark of eldritch magic – not much, by any means, but _he could do it_.

Yet that single spark was all it took for Harry to _understand_ the foreign magic he had access to. His own magic was comforting and warm, a part of him he’d known since childhood even if he hadn’t had a name for it before his eleventh birthday. Eldritch magic, however, was…plain. It didn’t _feel_ like Harry’s magic; it lacked personality, for lack of a better term.

Harry’s magic was like a companion. Eldritch magic was like an impossibly malleable tool, that could, Harry _knew,_ take perhaps endless forms. His own magic didn’t seem happy about the newcomer though.

“Um, I think my magic’s jealous.”

“Well then, perhaps you two should spend some time together?”

“I don’t know how to do that.”

“You told me once that, during your stay in Earth’s orbit, your magic covered your body?” she said, Harry nodding along – he was ninety-percent sure that was what happened, although how he had ended up there, he still didn’t know.

“Why not try coating your body in magic again? Besides getting to grips with your ‘floating’ charm, you’ve used it very little these past few months.” This was true, as Harry had only recently been able to control the _wingardium leviosa_ spell so as to not skewer the ceiling. Somehow it had evolved into being able to move smaller objects around the room, but Harry would just take that as a side-effect of his magic in this world.

Tony called it ‘telekinesis’, so Harry just shrugged and went with that. He hadn’t controlled anything heavier than a chair, however.

“I’m not sure how to.”

“Why not try casting your spell on yourself?”

“…I will end up in the ceiling.”

“Perhaps.” She nodded, looking entirely unperturbed by his potential death. Harry rolled his eyes, well used to her unflappable demeanour.

But his magic felt like it was _singing_ at the prospect of being used in such a way, and Harry, without much better to do, tried it.

Dark green magic spread from his hands to the rest of his body, travelling throughout his limbs until he was covered in its warmth. He hadn’t even spoken the words to the spell.

He wasn’t floating upwards though.

“Is something supposed to happen?”

“Try jumping.”

Harry did as instructed, feeling a bit foolish all things considered. Or at least, he did, until he _failed to hit the floor_. He just remained stationary in the air, like a broom waiting and ready for its rider.

“I can hover!?”

“It is probably closer to flight, once you learn how to do it properly. Although we’ll need a padded room for you to test that.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ll most likely crash a few times before getting it right.” Harry didn’t really care, since _he could fly oh Merlin that was cool_. He’d thought his flying days were over when the Ancient One told him brooms weren’t a thing in this world. In fact, so happy at the ability he now possessed, he tried to fly around the room.

And hit the wall head-on.

~HP¦MCU~

_26 th October 2012_

“Conjure a weapon.”

“Er, right now? Shouldn’t we do that this afternoon?”

“Your afternoon is booked by Stark today, so our sparring session will be this morning. Now, using only Eldritch magic, conjure a weapon.” Harry nodded, curiosity concerning Tony’s actions put to one side for the moment. He’d been able to conjure mandalas from Eldritch magic for a while now, although had been practising something special for this very moment.

Taking his space opposite his tutor, Harry stood with his feet shoulder-width apart. He focused on his breathing, inhaling slowly and deeply as he imagined the result he wanted.

Quick movements with both of his arms and hands produced two half-mandalas, akin to those the Ancient One herself used, in the shape of war-fans.

She copied his movements, their stances mirrored. Golden lines of eldritch magic crept up Harry’s skin. At his curious look, his tutor explained.

“The shield will cover your body entirely, turning any hit into a blunt attack which will bruise rather than kill.” Harry gulped at that but gave a single sharp nod in understanding.

And the fight began.

~HP¦MCU~

“You look like shit.”

“I _know_.”

“No, but like, _really_ bad. Did you fall out a window or something?”

“We started with conjured weapons today.”

“Ooo, I’ll watch the recording later. Now get in.”

They were in a secret bunker of the tower – or at least, it had been a secret from Harry since he hadn’t known it was there – where Harry had been instructed to meet the billionaire. Tony was sitting in a fancy sports car when Harry, in an oversized hoodie and black jeans, showed up.

His muscles _ached_ , to say nothing of the bruises on his sides and arms.

“Wait, you record my lessons?”

“Well yeah, everything in the tower’s recorded. Anything with you on gets deleted after a day though,” He said all this whilst driving the sportscar through a complex underground system, eventually coming to an upwards ramp.

“Why though? And where are we?”

“Hmm? Oh, its because magic is _cool_ so I couldn’t help myself, and we’re about to come out into New York.” Sunlight momentarily blinded Harry as they came onto the surface, blinking away the spots that had burnt themselves onto his retina. It was nice to no longer rely on his glasses to see though, ever since he started wearing the Ancient One’s gift.

“Where are we going?”

“Malibu.”

“Right…why?”

“Because my home’s there, and there’s enough private land for you to test your flying without being spotted.”

“ _Really!?_ ” Harry said, practically jumping out of his seat in excitement. Tony had been about as excited as he had when they discovered Harry’s ability to fly, although the Tower didn’t have the proper facilities to test his capabilities (as evidenced by the head-sized crater in the gym’s wall, which Tony refused to repair due to ‘sentimental reasons’).

“Yup, we’re driving to the airport first, should take about five hours from there.”

“Um, Tony?”

“Yeah?”

“Couldn’t we have just asked the Ancient One to make us a portal there?”

“Well yeah, but that’s not as fun as driving. Once you learn how to make ‘em, then I’ll ask you to.” Tony shot him a smirk at that, as if knowing Harry had put ‘portal making’ at the top of his study list. They hadn’t touched upon it in his classes so far…but he _needed it_.

If only so he could travel across America to fly about a bit.

~HP¦MCU~

Harry knew that Tony was rich, but… _how_ rich was not something he’d really put much thought into.

Sportscar. Private Jet. Luxury Malibu mansion….yeah, Harry spent most of the journey wide-eyed and feeling _incredibly_ out of place in his comfortable jumper. Tony didn’t mention it though, instead, the two chatted about general topics, his studies, or Doctor Who – ignoring magic owing to the plane’s pilot.

On occasion, Tony would begin to nod, head tilting as if falling asleep…only he’d shoot awake the next second, shake his head, and pour a glass of something-or-other from a decanter. Harry’s worry grew. 

But Tony didn’t seem to want to draw attention to it, so Harry let his concern fester unchallenged.

“So, whatcha think?” Tony said when they finally arrived, arms spread wide as he presented his home to Harry.

“It's…shiny.”

“…its…shiny...”

“Well, it is! What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know but _shiny_?”

“It was the first thing that I could think of!”

“Well, try again.”

“Why?”

“Because it's important!”

“Why is it important? It’s a nice, shiny house.”

“Because it's your new home!”

“…huh?”

“If you want it to be, obviously. Pep and I are moving back here, well I was and she agreed to move in with me, and well, you’re a good kid and I’d like you to stick around.” Harry had never seen the man look _bashful_ before.

Harry, in lieu of a verbal answer, tackled the man into a hug.

“Easy there, you’ll damage something”

“Sorry. But, yeah, I’d like to live with you if you’ll have me.”

“Kid, it wouldn’t be right without you – now, check out the place, pick a room, and I’ll get Happy to send your things over.

“Doesn’t Happy work for Pepper now?”

“Happy was mine first, so I get dibs on errands.”

“I’m not sure that’s how it works.”

“It’s definitely how it works. We’ll work on your flying tomorrow.”

~HP¦MCU~

“That’s annoying.”

“Try being me.”

“I’ve already been through puberty once thanks. Never again.” The two had been practicing for hours, but for all the progress Harry had made, Tony was infuriated. Why? Because any sensor he put on Harry – for things like propulsion, momentum, all that jazz – died in a puff of black smoke the moment he triggered his magic.

It seemed that whilst in his body, his magic got on with technology fine – but when not, it would just blow things up. Currently, Tony theorised the only electrical power source that would survive would be an arc-reactor, made with starkanium (owing to its atomical structure being based on the Tesseract). That didn’t help them very much at that moment though.

So, the executive decision was made that they would just have fun, and try to take readings later.

And _by Merlin_ did they have fun. Tag in the air was something Harry had never thought of as being a good method of practising dodging and movement, but it was a perfect warm-up to the true joy of the day.

A race.

Harry’s competitive side flared into existence during those hours, pushing more and more magic into his movements to match the speeds of Tony’s suit. He’d thought he had lost for sure when the suit managed to up its speed for a seventh time…but then.

“Holy _shit_ ”

“No! Teleporting is cheating!”

“I didn’t mean to! And we didn’t agree on that!”

“That’s because I didn’t know you _could_ do that!”

“Well, neither did I!”

“Disqualified.”

“Harsh.”

Try as he might though, Harry couldn’t force out another teleport the rest of the day – he wasn’t sure if it were a one-off or not, but he hoped it wasn’t.

He’d ask the Ancient One later.

“Best two out of three?”

“You’re on.”

Harry lost, but he enjoyed every moment of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the time skips can be a little jarring, but the MCU occurs over years so I'm trying to balance important events with character growth. 
> 
> Next Chapter follows the events of Iron Man 3...and it's over 7000 words long, so look forward to that. 
> 
> Stay Safe :)


	8. Extremis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's put in harm's way by Tony's threat to the Mandarin. 
> 
> Follows the events of Iron Man 3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three updates? Sheer power ngl.

_1 st December 2012_

“Jarvis, what do I get Tony for Christmas?”

“I am sure your company is enough, Harry.”

“…for a super-intelligent computer, you’re not very helpful.”

“Thank you.”

Harry sighed. He’d been at Tony’s mansion for a while now and had loved _most_ of the things about the place. The air felt cleaner than it had been in New York, and he had plenty of space to try out his flight (which had quickly become his favourite magical ability). The Ancient One appeared in the mansion’s lounge in accordance with their previous timetable, so his magical studies and training were still fine.

But Harry kind of missed his place in the Tower; looking out across the hustle and bustle of New York, and, well…he had spent more time with Tony back when they were in the tower.

Now, for the past month or so, it felt like Tony was avoiding him. Nothing was said, but more and more often the man would retreat to his downstairs labs, tinkering with his suits and such. Harry _knew_ he was overthinking the situation: Tony still made time for their Doctor Who nights (Harry cried incredibly easily at the fates of fictional characters, he discovered) and Harry still cooked for them both (and Pepper, who had moved in soon after Harry had).

It was nice…but there was _something_ not right. Tony still wasn’t sleeping great, and Harry just…didn’t know what to do. Some nights, when he was meant to be studying via astral projection, he’d just sit on a table in Tony’s lab as the man worked.

Harry had grown entirely too attached to Tony, in the time he’d been in this world…and it hurt him to see the man so troubled.

And so, the amazing plan of a super-cool Christmas present had been forged. Unfortunately, however, Harry was at a loss as to what to get him.

Tony had _everything_ , or at least everything money could buy.

“Jarvis, what could I make for him?”

“It depends on what you are able to create, Harry. Can you, for example, draw?”

“Yeah, no. Any other ideas?”

“Pottery.”

“Do we have a kiln?”

“The closest kiln is seventeen miles away.”

“…right, perhaps something closer to home? That I could do, you know, here?”

“According to three-hundred-and-seventy-three million search results, there are many things you could create without leaving the house.”

“…you’re infuriating, Jarvis.”

“Perhaps you might obtain better results from Youtube?”

“…my phone blew up again.”

“A new phone is on its way for you, Harry. In the meantime, why not use one of Sir’s tablets.” A draw in the wall opened then, revealing seven different Stark tablets. Harry had to shake his head at the amount of tech in this building alone.

“Thanks Jarvis…you can be helpful.”

“I will accept that as an apology for your earlier comment, thank you. I will halt my revenge plans.”

Harry gulped, remembered that Jarvis was kind of _everywhere_ in the building, and swore to not antagonise the A.I. in the future. Unless…Jarvis had developed sarcasm. He wasn’t sure what would be worse.

~HP¦MCU~

_21st December 2012_

“Tony…the _fuck_ is that?”

“It is, by far, the greatest gift I have ever thought of.”

Harry looked between the man and the _giant_ teddy with disbelief. Tony, who was considered by some to be the smartest man alive…was a fool.

“It can’t even fit in the house.”

“Pssh, that doesn’t matter. I’ll get some people round to knock out a wall, smuggle it in that way.”

“Tony…I’m not sure if this, you know, screams ‘Pepper Potts’.”

“Ah but remember kid, I’ve known her for _years_ longer than you have. This is perfect. She’ll love it.” Tony nodded once to himself and left Harry to admire the majesty of the stuffed toy, not noticing the pre-teens sigh of fond amusement. He had a sneaking suspicion that Pepper might appreciate his gift – a spa retreat, somewhere without a wifi signal – a little more than…this beast.

But it was kind of cute how much Tony cared for Pepper, he supposed. To save the trouble of having to remove a wall, Harry put on his sling-ring – that was _always_ attached to his belt – and conjured a portal beneath the gift, sending it into the Mansion’s lounge area.

He’d picked up portal creation rather quickly, all things considered, but he never thought he’d have to use it for this. A soft _thud_ could be heard from inside the home as the teddy bear landed.

“Sir, Harry, I think you may wish to see this,” Jarvis said throughout the building, his voice carrying to the outside courtyard where Harry was. In response – and to save time – Harry conjured a portal for himself to step through, appearing next to the tired-but-alert billionaire (he still hadn’t worked out his teleportation ability). Tony didn’t even bat an eye at his appearance via magic-portal, well used to it by now.

“Jarvis?”

“One moment sir.” The television in front of them booted on, the screen playing what looked to be _highly_ confidential satellite imagery. A birds-eye-view showed a series of airplane hangers exploding.

“Location?” Tony said, in a voice, Harry hadn’t heard before. His usual jovial tone was instead firm and direct.

“Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, close to the Iraqi border. The footage was recorded five hours ago.”

“Cause?”

“Unknown. Government agents were unable to find shrapnel or debris alluding to the presence of conventional explosives, although it has been claimed by the Ten Rings. President Ellis is giving an interview to the press at this moment.”

“Put it up.” Tony said, jaw tense and face pale. The screen shifted, replaced by the American president surrounded by a team of security. Harry had to learn about him – and previous presidents – during his mandated lessons, if only because it was common knowledge to most. He eyed Tony worriedly – his reaction was concerning.

_“Central to my administration’s response to this terrorist event is a newly minted resource. I know him as Colonel James Rhodes. The American people will soon know him as the Iron Patriot.”_

Harry couldn’t help raising an eyebrow at ‘the Iron Patriot’, whose suit looked _incredibly similar_ to Tony’s, if with a shittier paint job.

“I thought no one else was able to make your suits?” he asked Tony, who was rubbing both of his temples with his hand.

“No one can – remind me to show you the footage from HammerTech sometime. That _is_ one of my suits.”

“So he _stole it!?_ ”

“Kinda, I was in a, well, pretty shitty place at the time. He’s a good friend though, and I let him keep it when he helped me deal with a bit of a mess a while back. Didn’t know he was going to call it ‘Iron Patriot’ though. Crap name.” Harry could agree with that at least…the name did suck.

“Kid, would you mind, er, staying up here later tonight? Got to go and chat with Rhodey about all this, then talk to the missus about an unwanted visitor.”

“Who’s the unwanted visitor?” Harry asked before the man could escape to his lab.

“Killian…something or other. Forget his name, but he crept around Stark Industries earlier.”

“Did she tell you about him?”

“Nope, Happy did. Guy’s loyal to a fault. Now…stay up here, it probably won’t be pretty. Here, I’ll leave you a playmate.” Tony made a gesture with his hand, and soon after, an empty Iron Man suit walked up from the lab and waved at Harry.

“Er, why?”

“He’s a diversion.”

“For Pepper?”

“Well yeah, she’ll know I’m in the lab anyway…but if I’ll chat to her with this headset for a while first. You know, warm her up a bit.”

“Please don’t make that dirty, I am but an innocent child.”

“You’ve lived with me for, what, six months now? Is it time for the birds and the bees-“

“Go! Go to your meeting, please. Don’t. Nope.” Harry turned away, ignoring Tony’s cackling and the suit’s fake laughter. He’d already had _that_ conversation with awkward Primary school teachers, Poppy Pomfrey, and worst of all, _McGonagall_.

Sex-ed from a stern Scottish woman was…unique. Never again.

~HP¦MCU~

“Hi Harry, how’s your-…what is that?” Pepper said, coming in from her day in the office. Harry just shook his head, sending an understanding nod towards the stunned red-headed woman.

“Surprise!” Tony said, via empty Iron Man Suit. Pepper seemed to get whiplash at how quickly she turned between enormous teddy and the suit, which was calmly sat on the couch – moments before, chatting to Harry about quantum entanglement (Harry had been lost the entire time).

“You’re wearing this in the house now?” she said, coming over, “What is that, Mark fifteen?”

Harry coughed at that; the suit was the _forty-second_ edition (he knew, because he’d been on the receiving end of one of Tony’s excited suit-monologues – they were rather endearing, even if Harry understood very little about them). Pepper sent him a knowing look; she must have known too.

“Er, yep! Just breaking it in, you know…how’d you like your Christmas present?” suit-Tony said, gesturing to the teddy whose head was smashed against the ceiling owing to its height.

“Yes, er, how’d you get it inside?”

“Oh, that was me,” Harry said, waving a little with his pencil. He hadn’t been able to work on his Christmas present to Tony since the suit had been watching on, so had mostly doodled whilst Tony fell on a physics tangent.

“So, do you like it? I nailed it right?” Harry hid his face behind his workbook, ignoring Pepper’s ‘ _save me_ ’ face through sheer force of will. When she turned to face the suit, the look had faded into a smile.

“I…appreciate the thought very much, yes, thank you.” She said, standing up once she removed her high heels (Harry grimaced at their height; the must _hurt_ ). “So why don’t you lift that face mask up and give me a kiss?”

Harry definitely grimaced at _that_. PDA was a no from him.

“Can I just, you know, save time and tell you he’s in his lab?” Harry said. Somehow, despite lacking facial features, the suit looked betrayed.

“Thank you, Harry.” She said, shooting him a smile before going down to the lab, followed quickly by suit-Tony. Harry felt a moment’s regret at calling out the man…but that quickly faded when remembering that Tony had _planned_ for Pepper to know he was downstairs.

He shared a look with the massive teddy – one which wasn’t returned – before going back to his book, content in knowing he’d never understand people in relationships and not really minding that fact. They were…odd.

When he saw both Tony and Pepper run up the stairs, giggling their way through the house and towards their bedroom…well, Harry just tried to block that from his mind, shoving it behind his budding mental barriers. He would not look into that. Ever.

~HP¦MCU~

Harry had been quite happy that night, sitting on the couch in the lounge, finishing his Christmas present for Tony. He’d kept it in his room at the Tower so Tony wouldn’t find out about it, extracting a promise from Jarvis to not mention anything about it to the man (the A.I. had agreed, thankfully). He had some program called Downton Abbey on in the background (Happy had recommended it, and whilst it wasn’t Harry’s cup of tea, it was nice to hear the British accent once again – mercifully, he still had his). So, all in all, it was a relaxed night.

At least until a spike of tension shot through the air, quickly followed by the sound of falling metal.

Harry jumped up from his relaxed position, tossing his project through a portal to land on his bed in the Tower without a second thought. His pyjamas – soft black and grey flannel – weren’t the best of things to wear when there was a potential threat, but he’d make do.

War-fan mandalas were conjured in each hand, Harry taking a slow approach to the stairs that would lead up to the bedrooms. Before he could take a step, however, a stressed looking Pepper came down them.

She jumped in surprise, only to then close her eyes and sigh. Harry hadn’t seen her so…agitated.

“Pepper? You ok?”

“Yes, yeah, everything’s fine. What’re you still doing up?” she said, visibly collecting herself. Harry frowned but didn’t force the issue.

“I was finishing Tony’s Christmas present…is he ok?”

“He’s... he’s fine,” she said, dragging a hand over her face. Harry felt his frown deepen. Both Tony and Pepper were keeping something from him, _but he still didn’t know what_. It was maddening to know Tony wasn’t very well but not know why or how to treat it.

But if they weren’t going to tell him…he’d find out another way. For now, however, he’d try and calm the frazzled Pepper.

“…Would you like a hot chocolate?” he asked, receiving a look of incomprehension in return. It faded quickly.

“Yes please, actually.”

Pepper joined him in the watching of Downton Abbey after that, complimenting his progress on Tony’s gift when he summoned it again. She hadn’t even made it through an episode of the show before falling asleep though.

He went to the airing cupboard in the hall when he noticed, coming back with a soft blanket to put over her. She’d regret falling asleep on the couch in the morning, but he could at least make sure she was warm.

The television was turned off soon after, Harry’s body finally feeling the strain of having been awake too long. But, try as he might, sleep wouldn’t come to him when he went to his bed. Rather, thoughts and worries ran through his mind, all focussed on the man downstairs.

~Hp¦MCU~

_23 rd December 2012_

_“Here’s a little holiday greeting I’ve been wanting to send to the Mandarin. I just didn’t know how to phrase it until now. My name is Tony Stark and I’m not afraid of you. I know you’re a coward. So I’ve decided that you just died pal. I'm gonna come get the body. There’s no politics here. Just some good old fashioned revenge.-“_

Harry turned the television off with the remote, eyes closing as silence descended within the room.

He’d spent most of yesterday finishing off Tony’s gift, grilling Jarvis on what was wrong with Tony (to which the A.I. wasn’t allowed to say), and trying to speak to the man himself – who was looking even worse. He’d been at a loss of what to do, bar attempting listening-in on him when Astral projecting (but that felt a little…bad of him; he’d hung out with Tony that way before, but only when the man was tinkering or just messing about).

But all of that seemed unimportant when, that morning, a call came in that Happy had been taken to a hospital, following an explosion at the TCL Chinese Theatre. Pepper and Tony had left immediately, leaving Harry strict instructions to ‘not go anywhere or follow them’ so as to prevent the media ganging up on him or his powers from getting out. It was _so_ tempting to just open up a portal to where Happy was and check that the man was alright.

They hadn’t really spoken much outside the occasional greeting, the time when they went shopping with Pepper, and when the man had given him his list of favourite shows to watch…but he was a good guy, who had been kind to him.

And Harry hated feeling useless.

But Tony had just made a public threat to a group of terrorists, and Harry wasn’t sure how to feel about it. He agreed with Tony – of course – but…Harry couldn’t help feeling that a public threat had been a mistake. These people hadn’t messed around when bombing the airbase and the theatre.

“Harry, I would advise you begin safety preparations,” Jarvis said over the speakers whilst Harry sat, leaning his head on his hands, and his elbows on his knees.

“What’s happened?”

“Sir requested the Mandarin to ‘face him at his home’; there is a possibility this threat will be returned with action from the Ten Rings. Even if it is not, Sir has given the world’s press his home address.”

“Which means?”

“There are seven helicopters circling the house, all from varying media companies, as well as a team of reporters outside the front gates.”

“Already?” Harry said, going over to a window to…yep, there they were. “How long has it been since Tony told everyone?”

“Five minutes and thirty-six seconds.”

“Damn…”

“Indeed, Harry. As the only current resident, do I have permission to engage the maximum-security lockdown protocol?”

“Wait, I can give you instructions?” Harry asked incredulously, looking up the ceiling as he usually did when conversing with the A.I.

“Indeed Harry, Mr Stark added you to the list of authorised personnel in November.” Which would have been nice to know, Harry thought.

“Um, yeah, in that case. Do it.”

“Engaging ‘You Shall Not Pass’ protocol.” Harry lowered his head, a disbelieving expression making its way onto his face. Trust Tony to name the protocol via Lord of the Rings reference.

The windows around Harry darkened considerably once the protocol had been initiated, with every outside-access door clicking and locking shut. Jarvis informed him that all the doors were now dead-bolted.

In the meantime, Harry took all of his magic tomes and textbooks and threw them through a portal; they all landed on his bed in Avengers tower, which he _dreaded_ having to sort through, but would rather ensure they were safe than at risk in a now publicly known home.

Then, because the idea of being alone in the home that was now completely surrounded filled him with _stress_ , he changed into his grey sorcerer robes. The material was firm yet flexible…and helped to put Harry into a fighting mindset.

He was probably overreacting, but he felt more comfortable knowing he could defend himself if someone tried to break in than he would be if just wearing jeans and a hoodie.

Unfortunately, as the hours ticked by without Tony or Pepper returning, Harry’s anxiety grew. So, when the front door opened – with just a light _click_ as the lock was turned – Harry entered into a practised battle stance.

And very nearly cut Tony’s head off.

In fact, his conjured war-fan was only inches away from the man’s throat, who quickly stuck his hands up in the universal sign for surrender. Harry, adrenaline rapidly fading into embarrassment, dissolved his conjured weapons to grab the man in a hug.

“I could have killed you!”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t…” Tony said, hugging back. The potentially touching moment was ruined when Pepper came through the open doorway, frustration oozing out of every pore. Tony quickly ended the hug, hopping along to catch up to his girlfriend.

“Jarvis…could you have told me it was Tony?”

“I could have, Harry, but considering his actions have, albeit indirectly, risked your safety here, I thought scaring him was warranted,” Jarvis said, not a hint of remorse in his tone. From upstairs, the sound of an argument could be heard.

“…thanks Jarvis, for you know, caring…but I’d prefer not to kill Tony,” Harry said, touched by the A.I.’s capacity to care for his wellbeing, but again questioning his morality…the A.I. could be scary.

“Complied data of your sparring sessions with Sandra indicated there was only a point five percent chance you would injury Mr Stark.”

“Right…wait, what? I’m not _that_ good, I haven’t won any duel with her” he still couldn’t get over both Tony and Jarvis’ name for the Ancient One. Honestly. _Sandra_.

“As you have not fought against another opponent, the view you have of your own skillset is incorrect. You could, based on what I have seen, win against mid-tier martial artists. With the incorporation of your magic, you could win against most hand-to-hand enemies.”

“But it’s only been six months!”

“…I am at a loss as to how to explain your rapid growth in this field, harry, but know that your ability is higher than you might think. Now, I believe you should take a step back.” Harry did as instructed, the question of _why?_ Unvoiced as a filled duffle bag fell just in front of him, from the upstairs landing.

“It appears Miss Potts is packing in the pursuit of leaving this home,” Jarvis explained, another bag falling with a _thud_ as it hit the floor. Harry took another step back, just in case.

“Can’t say I blame her.”

~HP¦MCU~

“Tony? I really think we should go.” Harry said an hour after he and Pepper returned. Tony had escaped to the garage downstairs when Pepper wouldn’t be persuaded on staying, with Harry left sitting in the lounge. His leg had been bouncing in nervous energy for the entire time as he tried to watch an episode of Downton Abbey as if everything was fine.

“I admit it wasn’t my best move, but everything will be _fine_ ,” Tony said from inside his suit, coming upstairs in answer to the doorbell. Harry, felt his jaw tense at both the man’s words and at the unknown visitor…he did not feel safe.

When the door opened, Harry tensed even further, knees bending to be ready to jump into action if necessary. He knew Tony wouldn’t open the door to just anyone…but Harry was on edge.

He, once again, missed being at the Tower.

Harry edged forward, keeping behind a wall to overhear their conversation.

“You’re not the mandarin,” Tony said, Harry, taking a small breath in relief. That was something at least.

“You don’t remember.” The mystery woman said, “why am I not surprised?”

“Don’t take it personally, I can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning.”

“Gluten-free waffles, Sir,” Jarvis said, Harry mouthing along because _he’d made the bloody things_. Back when his day had felt normal.

“Thank you, Jarvis.”

“Ok look, I need to be alone with you-“

“I’m flattered, but I’m in a committed relationship.” Tony turned away, jumping back a bit at Harry being _right there_ behind the wall. Harry, just waved.

“You’ve got _a child here?_ ” the mystery woman said, eyes wide as she looked between him and Tony. Harry, unwilling to turn his back on their unknown visitor, shuffled to the side and away from the two.

Pepper chose that moment to drop two more bags from the landing, barely missing Tony’s head.

“Who is it, Tony? I swear if you’ve invited another terrorist around I’ll-“ her threat was cut off as she came down the stairs, standing next to Harry. Her expression soured just a smidge upon looking at the newcomer.

“This is Maya Hansen, an old botanist friend of mine,” Tony said, stepping out of his suit. Harry’s tactical mind – which was gradually being honed by the Ancient One – cringed at the strategic weakness that removing the suit was; even if Tony knew the woman, her presence here, _now_ , did not look good.

“Ah, yes, well, with Happy in the hospital I didn’t know we were expecting guests,” Pepper said, moving to Tony’s side.

“We weren’t.” Tony said quickly, drawing a flat look from ‘Maya’…if that was her real name. Harry didn’t trust her in the slightest. “She’s just here to…” both tony and Pepper looked at the guest expectantly.

“Listen, can we talk somewhere else? Somewhere not here?”

“Great idea! Let’s go.”

“Pep, we’ve been through this, we’re not going.”

“Yeah, we are.”

“The man – being me – says no.”

“The woman, who’s not listening to the man, says we’re going.”

“Well nope to that!”

“Tony? Tony. You threatened a terrorist.”

“And _I_ can’t protect you out there! We’re safe in here.” Harry cringed as their conversation devolved into an argument, Maya – perhaps wisely - stepping away from them to first stare at the massive teddy in the room in confusion, and then moved to watch the television.

Tony and Pepper’s argument soon devolved into the teddy itself, causing Harry to roll his eyes.

“Guys?” Maya said, looking between the screen and the arguing couple. Harry felt an express urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“What!?” Pepper and Tony said in synchrony, turning to the slightly startled Maya. But then she turned to the tv.

And Harry’s blood ran cold. Live footage of the mansion was being displayed, and on the screen, a streak of smoke from a weapon was heading right towards the property.

Time seemed to slow as Harry turned, a fraction faster than the others in the room.

A golden ball of Eldritch magic appeared between his palms as he pivoted. The missile was almost there.

He thrust his hands outwards, fiery magic shotting from his palms. The missile broke the glass.

His spell hit the missile head-on, the shield forming _just_ fast enough to take the force of the impact, sending the explosion away from them. The rest of the windows were blown out in the blast, the ceiling and floor beginning to crack in response.

Harry, whose shield broke the moment the explosion ended, fell to one knee, breathing heavily. He made eye contact with Tony across the room, nodding once to say he was ok. There wasn’t time to stop.

Tony gestured towards Pepper, his stationary suit breaking apart and launching itself towards the woman. It covered her in a matter of seconds.

“You lot! Get out of here!” Pepper looked like she wanted to argue, the two having a conversation with facial expressions alone – although Maya was already on the run to get outside.

Harry, however, saw the next lot of missile come towards them. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Tony try to run toward him – but he wouldn’t be fast enough. Quickly, Harry equipped his sling ring and opened a portal, the missile that was sent his way passing through the gateway and straight into the helicopter that had sent it. His victory was short-lived, however, for two more missiles struck the supports on the building.

The floor shook beneath him, his balance lost as he floundered for support. Tony looked just as helpless, making yet another gesture, this time directed to his own body.

In the seconds it took for his suit to arrive however, another missile was sent – and, distracted by ensuring Tony was alright, Harry didn’t have time to redirect the projectile that was heading straight towards his own chest.

~HP¦MCU~

“What the _fuck_?”

“I suppose that works in place of a thank you.”

Harry turned in place, surprise etched onto his face as he looked towards the Ancient One. The missile had been _right there,_ centimetres in front of him.

But it had never hit.

Instead of answering, however, his mentor just watched him calmly. Giving him time to notice…well, where they were.

He was still in the mansion, brick and glass exploding around him yet not affecting him in the slightest. In fact, nothing did. It was like he was watching everything without being interacted with, the world fractured and fragmented as he watched.

“Welcome to the Mirror Dimension. A place that exists alongside the real world, but unaffected by its actions.” She said as if beginning a lecture. Harry however didn’t think it was the right time for a lesson.

“I need to go back.”

“You are not ready.” She raised her hands as she spoke, the floor, ceiling, and walls folding in on themselves seemingly endlessly. The carnage around them disappeared, replaced by a tiled floor that was beautifully symmetrical, and walls that were warped to be completely identical to each other, without a blemish.

Harry was harshly reminded of a kaleidoscope.

“Where’s Tony?” he asked, pushing the _holy shit that was cool_ to the back of his mind.

“He is about to escape the bottom of the ocean…any second now.”

“I need to make sure he’s alright.”

“He will be, in time, but he must face this next challenge himself. When the time is right, you can join him again.”

“You can’t stop me-“

“You know that I can, Harry.”

“…fine. You _can_ stop me, but why would you?”

“Because Mr Stark needs to come to terms with the mistake he made long ago, and realise that his threat put both you and Miss Potts in danger. You will join the fray again…but Harry, you are only twelve. It is not your responsibility to save him.”

“But…I want him safe.”

“I know,” she said gently, coming over to lay a hand on his shoulder. He looked down to the floor in response, fists closed and tense at his inability.

“One day, Harry, you will be strong enough to defend everything you hold dear. But, sometimes, there are conflicts you will not be able to face. Stark’s mind is a battle he himself must come to terms with, and this time is vital for him to understand his own mind. Your sorcery skills are improving, but, a twelve-year-old is no match for an entire organisation.”

Harry hated how much sense she made.

“So I’m meant to just, what, wait around until I can be of use?”

“…more or less, but I figured now might be a good time to show you around Kamar-Taj.”

“Now?”

“Why not now?”

“Because Tony’s probably thinks I’m dead!?”

“When we get to Kamar-Taj, I will allow you to create a portal to speak to him. He should not have put you in that danger, however.”

Annoyingly, Harry kind of had to agree.

~HP¦MCU~

“Are we…in Nepal?”

“Correct. The heat is a little different to that of Florida, but you’ll grow accustomed to it shortly. Now, I would like you to meet someone. Master Wong.” She looked away from him then, gesturing to a nearby man – presumably Master Wong. He approached them with a relaxed pace.

“I would like you to meet somebody. Harry, this is Master Wong, the apprentice Librarian in Kamar-Taj, and your point of contact should you ever visit here when I am elsewhere.” Master Wong bowed slightly, Harry mirroring the movement.

“It is nice to meet you, Sir,” Harry said, slightly unnerved by the blank stare he received in return. The feeling grew when the man just…continued staring.

But then he blinked and slightly smiled.

“It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Novice Hadrian. The Ancient One speaks highly of your abilities, and on a personal note, I would like to thank you for treating our books with respect.”

“Er, no problem?” the man nodded, bowed to the Ancient One, and went on his way. At his confused look, his tutor chuckled.

“Master Wong is a moderately powerful sorcerer, Harry, but his truest love are the books he cares for. Never bend the corner of a page as a bookmark when in his presence.” She said with a smile, although there was definitely a threat in her words. Harry nodded and continued the tour.

It was a _far_ cry away from what he had expected; his mind had gone to the idea of a massive castle when told of a magic school, Hogwarts being his only reference for such a structure. In contrast, Kamar-Taj was beautifully warm (rather different to the chill of Scotland) and was comprised of a series of connected buildings, surrounded by courtyards. Trees grew tall and wide around its border, whilst the air felt heady with the scents of jasmine and incense.

He would have loved to have stayed, of course (maybe have a cup of tea beneath one of those trees, for example) but his worry over Tony was too much for the scenery to distract him. He said as much to the Ancient One, but she only smiled and directed him to a nearby building.

It led to a square hall, small steps surrounding its edge leading to a slight recess in the floor. The room was empty.

“As you do not know Stark’s location, you will need a way to locate him. What are your options?” she said once they were in the hall. Harry didn’t really appreciate the lesson, however; not at a time like this.

“Don’t you know where he is?”

“Of course!” she said, with that infuriating smile of hers, “but necessity is the mother of invention. A sorcerer’s greatest ability is not the range of his spells, but his ingenuity when using them. So, what are your options?”

“I could use Astral projection?”

“And spend hours of your time looking for him? You have only been able to slow time down by half when in the Astral dimension so far: by the time you found him, it may be too late for a conversation.” The two were circling each other now, a parody of their usual sparring sessions. This time, however, Harry felt completely outclassed (as opposed to his ‘I’ll give it a shot but know I’ll lose’ mentality when sparring).

“There’s a spell to locate family members-“

“Indeed there is, but if memory serves, it requires a biological connection between the source and the target, and Tony Stark has no blood relatives.”

“…what about scrying?”

“What about it?” she raised an eyebrow, urging him on.

“The ability to focus on an individual or item and see it’s location…its, er, connected to the mirror dimension _and_ the astral dimension.” He’d only ever read about the Mirror Dimension before today, but after being in it? He wanted to know _more_.

“You are correct, although its connection to the mirror dimension is flimsy at best. And indeed, if you had the capabilities of creating a gateway to the Mirror dimension, you may be able to use scrying. However, as you do not, there is a much simpler method.”

“…why couldn’t you just tell me it?”

“Because using your brain will take you far in life, rather than having answers handed to you.” Harry flushed a little at that – he was normally pretty patient… _but these weren’t usual circumstances_.

“Sorry.”

“Your impatience is understandable, which is why I am not going to wait for you to discover the answer. Rather, answer me this; when you use a sling ring, what do you imagine?”

“The end destination, as clearly as possible.”

“Quite. And, equally, if you wished to travel to another dimension, you would picture that realm as clearly as you could?”

“Well, yeah, if you ever let me.” She’d been quite clear on him sticking onto the Astral and Material dimensions since the other ones would ‘scare him shitless’ – the only time he’d heard her swear.

She gave him a reproachful look. Harry nodded.

“So then, does it not stand to reason that you could create a portal when thinking of a person?”

“…it can’t be that simple.”

“Some things are. This is one of them. A sling ring is one of the most useful tools a sorcerer has access to, do not underestimate it.”

“So I just picture him?”

“As clearly as possible, yes. Now you may pass through, but, you can only have five minutes – time is, in this instance, of the essence.”

Harry nodded, took a deep breath, and began to think of Tony. The scent of incredibly-expensive motor oil he’d use in the garage, the band t-shirts he’d always wear; the worry Harry felt for the man.

All this and more passed through Harry’s head as he imagined the man who he was quickly becoming to see as a father figure, not that he would admit that to himself just yet. But, it was enough.

Because he succeeded in making a portal, and on the other side of it, was a star-struck Tony. He jumped through.

Straight into Tony’s arms, who pulled him into the tightest hug he’d ever experienced. 

“Kid? What’re you doing here? I thought-“ he didn’t finish his sentence, but he didn’t have to. Harry had worried the same thing, even though the Ancient One had told him Tony would be fine.

“I think I preferred the Tower, just saying,” Harry said, the two separating from the hug. Snow fell about them, Harry just noticing the iron man suit being dragged behind the billionaire.

“Yeah…when all this is over, we’ll move back there. Listen, I’m, er, I’m sorry I put you in danger. I should’ve sent you and Pep away as soon as I made that threat…which wasn’t my best move anyway.”

“You think?”

“Ok, I deserve the sass. Listen, just, get somewhere safe alright? I’ll come for you when this is all over, but…kid, I need to know you’re safe.”

“You need not worry about that, Mr Stark.” The Ancient One said, coming through her own portal. Harry felt his grip on Tony tighten.

“It’s been five minutes already?”

“You spent most of it hugging. Mr Stark? Your best route is about…a mile in that direction” she said, pointing slightly to the left of where Tony had been heading.

“Right, cheers Sandra. Kid, go with the wicked witch, I’ll be back before you know it.”

“I’m a sorcerer, Mr Stark. Harry is the witch. Now come along, Harry, I’ll show you how to access the Mirror Dimension.” She walked through her portal after that, leaving Harry a moment alone with Tony.

“Don’t die.”

“I’ll try not to; top of the to-do list.”

“Good…stay safe Tony.”

“Only if you do. Now run along, I’ll ask how you survived a missile to the chest later. And be nice to your babysitter.”

“She’s not my babysitter!”

“…no, she’s cheaper than a babysitter. Now go, I’ve got to get this pile of bolts inside.”

Harry nodded, grabbed Tony in a hug once more, and hoped on through after his tutor. Tony waved to him as the portal closed.

~HP¦MCU~

_25 th December 2012_

“Are you sure they’re alright?”

“Harry, that is the seventy-fifth time you’ve asked since you’ve been here.”

Harry had been at Kamar-Taj for two days now and had not been able to rest for his entire stay. He’d sleep sure – exhaustion from the day would do that – but he’d wake up just as tired as he had been when he went to bed the night before.

It didn’t help that he was a bit of a secret at Kamar-Taj, the Ancient One having covered him in some spell to be practically unnoticed by most. They didn’t normally teach a person magic until they were well into adulthood: a twelve-year-old being there would have arisen questions the Ancient One didn’t want to answer.

Considering she had saved his life back at Tony’s Mansion, Harry decided not to question it.

He’d learnt how to access the Mirror Dimension quite quickly, fracturing a segment of the space in front of him like cracked glass. His sparring sessions with the Ancient One would happen in such areas of the Mirror Dimension, away from the eyes of other magic practitioners.

But she had quickly grown tired of his regular ‘are they ok’ moments, so had given him to Wong.

Who was great – a little scary at times – but great. It helped that Master Wong had almost every book in the library memorised, if not in content, then by title.

It was also the first time he saw the Ancient One’s private collection. Beautiful books inscribed with Eldritch magic.

 _And he really really wanted to read them_.

But most were written in Sanskrit, a language Harry didn’t have the slightest clue about…so Wong gave him _fifteen_ different books to learn it.

Apparently, Google translate wasn’t good enough for those truly serious about the mystic arts…Harry just thought Wong was a killjoy.

~HP¦MCU~

_27 th December 2012_

“Harry? It’s time.”

Harry jumped up from his bed where he had been reading, looking towards the Ancient One with worry and excitement warring on his face. She only nodded in response, before bidding him goodbye – and that she would see him in two days’ time, for their lesson.

He didn’t waste a moment, slipping on his sling-ring and conjuring a portal to Tony. he even stepped through without looking first.

A mistake.

Because _he was in the bath with Pepper_.

“Harry!?”

“Goodbye!” Harry slapped a hand over his eyes, using his free hand to conjure a portal beneath his feet. He fell through the next moment.

But rather than his soft bed in Avenger’s tower he had aimed for, he fell instead on piles of book and tomes – the things he’d moved there _days_ ago.

It _hurt_.

And worse than that? He just _knew_ the Ancient One was cackling her head off somewhere at his plight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know it may be a bit frustrating not to have Harry being super-powerful, but I think it's important to stress his age. A twelve-year-old shouldn't be put in such dangerous situations, even if they can do crazy-cool magic. The only reason Tony gave the armour to Pepper was that, between the two of them, Pepper was at more risk (that, and the armour wouldn't have fit Harry's smaller frame).
> 
> As he ages, Harry will have more bamf moments...for now, the very protective Ancient One will be keeping him safe. (there'll be now Harry v Basilsiks any time soon).
> 
> The next chapter will be more feelsy!


	9. Parent-Teacher Conference

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony takes more interest in Harry's classes, and the two have a heart-to-heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy :)
> 
> Warning: a scene is depicted where a blood-test is taken, although it's non-explicit.

_January 2013_

“He destroyed all of them?”

“Every. Last. One.”

“Bu – but he spent _months_ on those! Maybe even years!”

“Yeah, but he’s been working on new models ever since. Been spending more time with you and Pepper too.” Bruce pointed out, to which Harry nodded. 

Ever since he got back – and avoided Tony for a day out of sheer embarrassment – Harry had heard little about what had happened. Pepper was in and out of the tower giving blood tests (apparently, she’d been dosed with something during Harry’s time in Kamar-Taj) whilst, as Harry was _only just finding out,_ Tony had blown up all of his suits.

And had the shrapnel in his chest removed…not that Harry had even known it was in there to begin with (Tony and Jarvis had always been a bit hush-hush with _that_ topic). But his _suits_? That was shocking.

He’d enjoyed spending more time with Tony though: they’d finally made some progress on a magic-safe phone for him to use, and when not working on that, they’d been discussing Harry’s schooling.

Now that Bruce was back in the picture as one of Harry’s tutors (the man looked rather happy to see him again in fact) his studies had only grown in difficulty. They were still enjoyable, but…when Bruce and Tony taught him together, Harry would wind up with a migraine.

His favourite times, however, were when they – Tony, Pepper, sometimes Bruce, and himself – would just chill in the penthouse, watching one film or another. They’d started taking it in turns to choose.

Harry, catching up on a missed childhood, chose the more family-orientated films. Although Bruce didn’t much appreciate Harry’s comparison between the Hulk and Shrek (Tony looked to have almost peed himself laughing).

Speaking of Tony, he too seemed to favor the more family-friendly films. Based on the little Harry knew of the man’s childhood though, he supposed he wasn’t the only one making up for missed opportunities.

Pepper, a little predictably, enjoyed a good rom-com – but not as much as Bruce. Harry suspected he’d soon know Love Actually line for line since the man chose it every time when it was his turn pick.

But back to the conversation of Tony’s destruction of _every last suit he had_.

“What if something happens?”

“Tony needs a bit of a break, but knowing him, he’ll already have something in place in case anything goes wrong. Now, how’s that omega radiation?” Bruce pulled out a strange device, which began beeping once turned on. “Looking steady. No excess energy or fatigue?”

“Nope, just feeling…plain.”

“Good! Now, you can say no, but might I take a blood sample?” Bruce picked up a capped needle from the desk next to him, Harry grimacing the entire time. He trusted the man more than he had when he first arrived here…but needles kind of freaked him out.

“Fine…just, be quick,” Harry said, presenting his arm and turning his head away from the sight. It was over quite quickly, though Harry felt a little queasy all the same.

“Where’s Tony?”

“Hmm? Oh, he’s in the gym chatting to your magic tutor.”

“She’s here? Why?” he’d just had a training day yesterday, and she hadn’t said anything about an extra session today. Bruce just shrugged.

“Hell if I know. Tony called her this morning – Harry! No portals in the lab!” but it was too late; Harry had already jumped through one to get to the gym.

Only to see Tony sat down with the Ancient One, sipping tea.

~HP¦MCU~

How he got here, Harry didn’t know.

Well, he did, but that didn’t mean he understood _why_ he was here. Sat in a previously unused conference room in the tower, Harry just held his tea as the Ancient One and Tony discussed his schooling progress.

In. excruciating. Detail.

Tony had, admittedly, taken greater care and interest in Harry ever since the Christmas fiasco with the Mandarin – something that Harry loved, but felt a little guilty for (although Tony made sure to tell him that he enjoyed spending time with the pre-teen). It had only been a week or so since he had returned.

But he hadn’t expected _this_.

Sitting there, with a cup of tea which he hadn’t touched, listening to his mentor compliment him (he felt himself blush each time) whilst, somehow, drawing attention to his poor footwork.

“So he’s progressing well? No setbacks?” Tony said, a good fifteen minutes after Harry had joined. They hadn’t even included him in the conversation.

“He was born for the mystic arts,” she said in response, her kind smile in place, “Although, he really should spend more time working on his balance.”

“Hmm, I ‘spose Bruce can teach him yoga or something like that.” Harry had, a little, neglected his yoga when he moved to Malibu…and apparently, that had been noticed.

“That would work well. Now, considering he can now access the Mirror Dimension, has begun to learn Sanskrit, and is capable of conjuration…I think it time to present him with these.” she created a portal above the table, a pile of dark-red cloth falling upon it.

“Are these-?”

“Your Apprentice-rank robes, yes.” She spoke to him directly now, although Harry was too busy reaching out for the clothes to notice.

“What does that mean for him?” Tony said a fond look in his eyes that Harry didn’t want to look too much into. He looked away quickly, picking up the new sets of robes and placing them on his lap.

“He will now have unlimited access to a higher range of tomes and spells; some which I will teach to him, others that he may learn for himself. He may now if he so wishes, also challenge other sorcerers to sparring sessions.”

“But I only know Master Wong.”

“True, for now, but the more people you fight against, the greater your strength will become.” She turned to Tony once again, “I should also say that, with your consent Mr Stark, Harry may be asked to check out magical anomalies around the world, although only when in the presence of another Master. Specifically, Master Wong or myself.” Harry turned to Tony at that, trying to plead with his eyes alone to let him go on such missions. The man looked pained.

“Please?” Harry said, willing himself to look like a puppy or something equally cute and impossible to fight against. Tony looked away.

But then looked back.

And caved, with a sigh.

“Fine, fine. _But_ only when I finish making you a phone that won’t explode, _and_ so long as you check in regularly _and_ you don’t go looking for trouble.” Tony said, voice uncharacteristically firm. Harry nodded his head rapidly.

He didn’t point out that he didn’t _look_ for trouble, it just looked for _him_ , but he was sure everything would be fine.

“Wonderful. Now, Harry, I have one last gift for you.” Another portal appeared, this time a thick book falling through. It was bound in black leather with a silver buckle keeping it closed.

Its spine was blank whilst an empty circle sat on its cover.

“What is it?” Harry asked at the same time as Tony. He caught Tony’s eye.

“Jinx!”

“Double Jinx!”

“ _Triple Jinx!”_

“Quadru-“

“It’s a grimoire,” the Ancient One said, interrupting their jinx battle (perhaps wise, as it may have gone on for a _long_ time), “It’s a blank book, connected to an individual, that both records spells used and, on occasion, offers possibilities.”

“So it’s sentient?” Tony said, Harry extending a finger to poke the book.

“In a manner of speaking. They, to use language you are more familiar with, analyse their owner’s magic which then generates information, which is then recorded in its pages. The longer they are exposed to a magic user, the more they record and reveal about their magic.”

“So why only give him one now?”

“It took some time to harvest the ingredients to make it; it’s not wholly of this dimension…feel free to pick it up, Harry.” Harry jumped at being addressed but gave a bit of a grin in response.

Upon picking it up, he felt his magic – both his own and the Eldritch sorcery he’d been taught – well up inside him, running down his fingers and into the tome. The leather of the cover took on a dark-green tint, whilst in the previously empty circle, a dark green mandala appeared.

“Cool.”

Tony began a chant of ‘open it!’ next to him, Harry rolling his eyes fondly towards the man but doing as instructed anyway.

The first page was blank for a moment before a complex eldritch Tao-mandala spread across the page. Black ink bled across the page in precise lines, with the occasional geometric sequence appearing in dark-green ink.

“I take it green’s going to be a theme for you?” Tony asked.

“Apparently. Sorry, it’s not red and gold.” Harry had felt for a while that there would be no changing his magic’s colour, and despite its Slytherin connotations, Harry wouldn’t change it for the world. It did, however, suck that Tony’s colours were so very Gryffindor.

“Nah it’s alright, You couldn’t pull off those colours anyway.”

“Hey!”

“Perhaps you should try the next pages, hmm?” the Ancient One interrupted, Harry, nodding but saving the friendly argument of colour-palette for later. He could make it work! Probably!

Turning the page a similar thing occurred, except words flowed onto the page rather than a complex mandala. The bottom half of the right page, however, depicted a small insect.

Except the black ink of the drawing turned green, and the image shifted to that of a bird. On the left page, also in green, a spell stood out;

_Reformator, Figura_

Quickly reading the text surrounding the incantation, Harry discovered that the spell was capable of transfiguring one animal into another, although this one would only work on smaller creatures. The pages listed the possible problems a caster may experience (like potential resistance if the animal was enchanted, or if the creature was too ‘stubborn, whatever that meant).

Harry wasn’t sure how he felt about turning animals into different things against their will though…maybe he could ask Tony for models or something to practice on. At looking up and seeing the curiosity in the eyes of his audience, Harry gave a brief overview of what the spell was.

“…I mean, sounds cool and all, but seems a little pointless,” Tony said with an apologetic shrug. Harry kind of agreed.

“Curious that the book gave that to you, rather than something more helpful. But, at any rate, remember to practice your own magic. It sets you apart from any other Sorcerer.” The Ancient One said, taking her leave soon after.

Once sure she had left – and wasn’t about to appear again via portal – Harry turned to Tony, sending him a confused look.

“’Spose you want to know why I called her, hmm?”

“Well, yeah.”

Tony sighed in response, leaning back in his chair to look at the ceiling. Harry felt himself frown at Tony’s lack of eye contact.

“Right, just, let me speak first yeah?” he said after a moment, Harry nodding in agreement, “After the Invasion last year, I…wasn’t in the best of places. Couldn’t sleep, and if I did, I’d just have nightmares…so I’d just, work on my suits, you know?” he looked over, Harry nodding for the story to continue.

“Well, it kept getting worse, and I kept putting it off as just too much whiskey or something. But, when all that shit with Killian happened, well, I realised I’d…neglected you and Pepper. Let me finish.” Tony said, not even looking over to know Harry was about to argue that point. Harry shut his mouth with a clack of his teeth. “When I took you in, it was mostly because it’d kill me to just…cast a kid out on the street. Didn’t even realise I grew to _like_ you being around until that day in the Mansion…almost losing you and Pepper…I don’t want that to happen again. You- right I’m just gonna say it, you’re like a son to me, kid. Once I realised that, well, I realised I hadn’t given you much attention, except when we watched tv or you were hanging out in the labs… so, I texted Sandra to meet up, since she’s spent more time with you that _I_ have, and, well, kid can you just say something? You’re killing me here.” Tony looked over at him then, but Harry’s brain was too caught up on the _‘you’re like a son to me_ ’ part, replaying it over and over like a needle stuck on a record.

He’d thought he was being just…optimistic, or maybe delusional, at slowly seeing Tony as a father – Merlin knew he’d never had a proper parental figure in his life, so maybe he was just being desperate? He’d never thought Tony might feel the same way.

His brain caught up with Tony’s words after a moment, choosing not to answer the man’s plea verbally. Instead, he flicked his fingers to summon the Christmas present he had made for him.

He’d felt too awkward once Christmas had passed to present it to him…but, now seemed like a good time.

Tony raised an eyebrow but took the wrapped squishy parcel with care. Red and gold wrapping paper fell to the floor soon after, revealing length upon length of a carefully crocheted blanket.

Harry had taught himself to crochet for this gift alone; it had been a lot of trial and error, even with youtube videos helping him out, but, being able to undo his work if there was a mistake helped.

It was made from soft dark red wool – using more than one colour had been beyond him – but he’d made it large enough to fit over a double-bed if necessary.

“I, er, made it for you for Christmas, but I never got a chance to…”

“You made this?” Tony said with surprise, a look Harry didn’t recognise passing over the man’s face. At Harry’s nod, the pre-teen found himself gathered in a hug – something which was quickly becoming one of his favourite things.

“Thanks, Harry.” Harry’s head was beneath Tony’s chin, so he couldn’t see the man’s face…but maybe that was the point.

“Are you ok now?”

“I’m getting there, kid - been in therapy with Bruce, switched the wine to iced tea…I’ll get there.”

Harry nodded, tension he hadn’t known leaving his body.

That evening, the two – along with Pepper and Bruce -finally watched the Wizard of Oz together…and Harry didn’t even mind the jokes at his expense (‘Glinda’ as a nickname finally made sense) too happy enjoying the evening with his family.

~HP¦MCU~

“Harry? You have a visitor at your door,” Jarvis said the next morning, Harry putting away his grimoire. A few more of its pages had filled out overnight, although they were all spells Harry already knew how to do (his flight, for example, and the ability to move objects with magic alone).

Curious at Jarvis’ lack of specifics – the A.I. was normally more detailed than that – Harry opened his door.

To be met with _a fucking Dalek_.

“ _Extermina-“_ the Dalek said in a _scarily_ accurate voice. Harry’s magic reacted without his prompting, blasting the threat away with a burst of green magic.

Tony’s head popped around the doorway.

“Merry Christmas?”

“Tony? we have _got_ to work on your gift-giving skills.” Harry said, adrenaline fading rapidly. 

The downed Dalek let out a wounded sound from its place on the floor, tendrils of green magic fading into the air around it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So!!! a few things for this chapter. 
> 
> I hope it's not going too fast for you, in terms of Harry and Tony's bonding - the risk to both of them in the last chapter was high, and I thought this would be the best time for them both to realise how much they meant to each other (plus, delayed Christmas!). 
> 
> One commenter had already predicted Harry would get his own spellbook! Props to them! (it will keep cropping up throughout the work, just FYI).   
> \------------------  
> ALSO! (spoiler for Wandavision)
> 
> the spell in Harry's book is the same one A***** H******* uses to transfigure a cicada into a bird. My Latin is a little rusty, and it's a quiet scene when it's used, so I hope I got it right.   
> \------------------  
> Stay Safe Folks! :D Next chapter is during the events of Thor: The Dark World!


	10. An Ally Found in Thor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's influence on the MCU, as felt via the events of Thor:The Dark World.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The response to this fic has been insane! Massive thank you to everyone who has read it, whether they've left a kudos/comment or not! You've all been great!

_4 th May 2013_

“Happy Birthday, Jarvis,” Tony said, unaware that Harry was looking at him in dawning horror.

“Thank you, Sir.”

“What!?” Harry said, gaining Tony and Bruce’s attention. He had been completing his latest assignment (this one being on Ancient History, which was actually quite cool) in the lab before this occurred.

“It’s Jarvis’ birthday,” Tony said slowly as if Harry didn’t understand. The problem was that he _did_.

And he’d forgotten to ask when Jarvis’ birthday was.

Oh, he felt _bad_.

“Jarvis, what do you want for your birthday?” Harry said to the ceiling, not catching the fond look Tony and Bruce sent his way.

“I do not experience emotion, Harry. The anniversary of the day my servers became active is not a day worth particular celebration.”

“Like _shit it’s not_ ,” Harry said, making Tony snort into his tea and Bruce sigh. But Harry didn’t notice because he’d just had the single most amazing idea he had ever had.

“Tony, can I pop out?” Harry said, already creating a portal in the air next to him.

“Got your phone?” Tony replied, referencing the rather shiny phone he had made to cope with Harry’s natural magic. Unlike normal Stark phones, it was equipped with the latest holographic technology, and powered by micro-arc reactors. Harry had called it ‘snazzy’, immediately confused at the time as to where he’d learnt that adjective.

“Yep!” Harry patted his jean’s pocket, drawing a nod from Tony in return. He jumped through the portal then, it's fiery glow fading as it closed.

~HP¦MCU~

“You didn’t.”

“I really did.”

“What’d you need me for?”

“Well I can plug it in, but I’m not sure how to give Jarvis access to it.”

“Oh! Right, um, bring it over here.”

The two travelled down to the server room of the tower: an icy-cold sub-basement which housed Jarvis’ central servers. Harry held his precious cargo beneath a jacket, keeping its contents hidden from Jarvis’ view via the security cameras.

“I’m not sure whether to be annoyed that I didn’t think of this, or amazed that _you_ thought of this,” Tony said, pulling out a clear-ish draw for Harry to place his present in. As Harry watched on, various wires were run into the back of the Nintendo Wii he’d brought.

“Well, I figured Jarvis might enjoy Mario Kart.” Harry had discovered video games quite recently, with Tony having introduced them to him as one of their ‘father-son’ bonding activities (even though they weren’t called that officially). They’d stuck away from any war games or shooters, not wanting to test the limits of Tony’s PTSD (he said he’d be fine, but Harry was honestly happy with Mario Kart and other lighter games).

“Sir, I am detecting an additional system connected to my servers, may I enquire as to what it is?”

“It’s a games system, Jarvis. Harry thought you’d like to play games.”

“It is not in my programming to seek recreational enjoyment.”

“Well, it is now buddy…just as soon as I program that in. Kid, give me ten minutes or so?”

The rest of the day was spent challenging the A.I. to rounds of Mario Kart and Wii Sports, Jarvis unable to perfect his abilities owing to the unpredictable nature of his human competitors.

Tony was vicious in the pursuit of winning, whilst Harry tended to hang onto power-up items until the last moment, and snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat.

It was the first, and only, time Harry had heard Jarvis frustrated.

A truly glorious day.

He didn’t even remember that it marked a year since he had been in that world.

~HP¦MCU~

_15 th June 2013_

“In your studies, have you come across a period known as the convergence?” The Ancient One asked from where she watched Harry practice, tea cooling on the side table next to her.

Harry lowered his arms from where he’d been practising. Lately, rather than the Eldritch Magic he was slowly becoming well versed in, they’d been focusing on his own natural magic. They’d discovered that he had the capability of using sheer, raw magic as a means of attack or defence.

So, his training now involved tossing bolts of green-magical energy about the room and creating forcefields – which he could incorporate into his sparring sessions with the Ancient One, once he got the hang of them.

“I’m not familiar with it, no,” Harry said eventually, after mentally going through the books he’d read. He’d been learning how to organise and defend his mind for months now, so he was quite confident he would be able to remember ‘the convergence’ if he had read about it.

“That is not surprising, owing to its rarity. Every five-thousand years the Nine Realms connected to Yggdrasil align, creating cosmic anomalies and other effects. This is known as the Convergence. In exactly five months’ time, these realms will align completely. Every Sorcerer will need to be available to deal with these cosmic anomalies, to prevent humans from falling into them, injuring themselves, or…if the need arises, to defeat any threats that may walk into our realm from another.”

“Does that include me?” Harry asked, not having yet been allowed to go on a mission. Mostly because nothing had really happened that required investigation.

“It will. The boundaries between the realms will thin to a dangerous degree, so we must all do our part. I will speak to Stark about the issue.”

Tony would later agree to his involvement, going so far as to calibrate Stark satellites to register potential energy spikes across the globe.

~HP¦MCU~

_12 th November 2013_

“Do you have your phone?”

“Yes, for the seventh time, _yes_.”

“And your robes?” Tony asked, sounding uncharacteristically worried. For his birthday that year, he’d received his own dark-red apprentice robes – except, they now came with adaptive under armour, whilst the fabric itself had been reinforced with an incredibly light alloy.

“I’m wearing them, Dad.”

Harry froze. The slip-up was completely accidental, but he _truly_ meant it. Tony, rather than comment, ruffled his hair.

“Text me if there’s an issue. And stick close to Wong!” Tony said, shouting the last part as Harry stepped through the portal. He rolled his eyes at the man’s protective streak but waved all the same.

The portal closed behind them, leaving Harry and Master Wong alone outside…a factory. Harry ignored his slip-up to deal with the situation at hand.

“Where are we?”

“A shipping factory in London. The anomaly should…right there.” Wong said, drawing Harry’s attention to the shipping containers which seemed to defy gravity. One even managed to be perfectly balanced on a single point.

“Right, so…what do we do?”

“Identify where the dimensional wall is thinnest and block it with a shield.”

“That seems…rather ineffective.”

“The convergence has not occurred in thousands of years; we have no idea how to close the gateways it creates, so, blocking them it the easiest and least risky course to take.”

“Fair enough,” Harry said with a shrug, attention leaving the physics-defying container to instead focus on the noise coming from nearby.

Police were talking to a rather distressed man and a strangely chill woman, the latter seemingly…flirting with the policeman interrogating her.

“Er, Wong? Think we should ask them what’s going on?” Harry said, drawing Wong’s attention away from the man’s own Stark Phone. He’d been given one by Tony ‘in case Harry gets in trouble’, something Harry both appreciated and found mortifying.

“You can access the Mirror Dimension, can you not?” Wong said. Harry smirked, and nodded.

~HP¦MCU~

Chilling out in the Mirror Dimension was fun and all – and rather good for spying as it happened – but it was _boring_. The police were only there because the mystery man and woman were trespassing.

Although…

“She’s been missing for five hours!”

“Miss Lewis, please calm down. We’ll keep watch on the site, but you and your…intern have got to come with us.” The policeman said, looking as if every ounce of his patience was being tested.

Thankfully – for Harry’s short attention span at least – something happened.

Miss no-first-name Lewis ran off towards another woman, shouting ‘Jane’ the entire time. Harry and Wong followed her, although Wong looked decidedly less interested than Harry.

By the time they caught up, however, it had started to rain in the Material world. Except that is, around this ‘Jane’ woman.

“Isn’t that a little odd?” Harry asked Wong, receiving a slow nod in return.

“It is. Perhaps now might be a good moment to question them ourselves.” Wong said, stepping through a conjured portal to stand next to the two women, who both jumped back.

Harry sighed but followed, shooting an apologetic look towards the women for his guardian’s actions. Wong may be a lot of things – most of them good – but he seemed to lack…tact for these kinds of situations.

Not many people appreciated the sudden appearance of a robe-wearing Sorcerer and an equally robed witch, after all.

“Who are you?” both women asked, although ‘Jane’ seemed a great deal more concerned about them. The other – Miss Lewis – just looked mildly interested.

“I am Wong, this is Harry. Might we ask you both some questions?” Wong said as if _that_ cleared everything up. Harry wanted the ground to open beneath him and swallow him up.

He’d gotten used to being around Tony, Pepper, Bruce, and the odd sorcerer…but social situations were _not_ his forte by any means. Why didn’t he just ignore the commotion and wander about with Wong in pursuit of mystic doorways to other dimensions? He should’ve stayed in the Mirror Dimension.

Before the conversation could continue, Jane spotted something behind Harry and Wong and pushed past them in pursuit of it. Harry frowned at that – not appreciating being pushed aside – but failed to comment on it.

Because there stood Thor, looking like he’d lost his pet cat. Harry didn’t even care about the rain that was now soaking through his robes, too surprised at seeing the Avenger just…standing around casually.

“That is Thor, right?” Harry asked, Wong nodding.

“Yup. He and Jane have a bit of a thing going. Darcy Lewis, by the way.” Darcy said, tipping her beanie like one might tip a fedora.

“Er, hi. I’m Harry.”

“Nice to meet you, Harry. So what kind of alien are you?”

“Huh?”

“Freaky space-portal? You Asgardian too?”

“We are not from Asgard,” Wong said, features blank.

“Tough crowd. How old are you kid?”

“I’m thirteen.”

“Oof, enjoy the teen years they’ll _really_ screw you up.” The rain stopped at that point, Harry suppressing a chill in response to his damp clothing. Darcy ran off when a policeman began to approach.

“Should we leave to find the anomaly?”

“The presence of Thor here complicates matters. Are you alright on your own for a moment? I will contact the Sorcerer Supreme for support.”

“Er, sure,” Harry said, watching as Wong stepped through a portal and so leaving him alone.

It was, of course, at that moment when something happened. Jane, who had been speaking to the police officer, collapsed; strange dark-red energy pulsing out of her in response to being grabbed. It pushed away anything within its blast radius.

Well, everything except Harry, who felt the energy run over his skin like water over a rock. He was completely unaffected.

But he did jump into action, running forward to the prone Jane and the worried-looking Thor in an attempt to offer his help. He didn’t know any healing spells, but whatever _that_ had been, well, Harry hoped the Ancient one might know what to do.

Except he never got a chance to say anything. He’d been a mere metre away when a rainbow of light fell upon him, blocking out his vision of the two.

His magic _pulsed_ around his body, protecting him even as the strange energy propelled him _up_. Harry was cruelly reminded of his time orbiting the earth, over a year ago: when he had touched that strange blue light – likely from the Tesseract – it had felt much the same.

Tony was going to kill him.

~HP¦MCU~

“And he sticks the landing!”

Three pairs of eyes turned to him at that, causing heat to bloom in his cheeks and his arms to lower from the pose he’d been in. He’d panicked for the first minute whilst covered in the strange rainbow energy, but after that…he’d just accepted it and hoped he’d arrive at wherever he was going soon, kind of wishing he’d brought his pet Dalek along for the ride.

Yeah, the Dalek – now named ‘Dusty’ – could now be found casually rolling about Avengers tower. But back to the issue at hand…

His magic protected him from the landing, allowing him to roll and then stand as if just having performed a gymnastic display. It hadn’t been appreciated, apparently.

“Welcome to Asgard.” The man on the podium said with a smile, Harry nodding in return.

“Wait…I know you, don’t I? we’ve met somewhere before,” Thor said, Harry feeling a bite of disappointment at not having been remembered by the man.

“I arrived on Earth sometimes last year? Argued with Fury? Live with Tony Stark?” Harry said, the last being the one to prompt recollection in the god’s eyes.

“The Seiðmenn! Why have you come here, wizard?” Thor asked, tone not judging but more curious. Jane and the mystery man watched on.

“Um, well I prefer the term ‘witch’, and I was going to offer my help when she collapsed but then I got dragged into…whatever that was,” Harry said, gesturing to the gateway behind him. He had a suspicion as to what it was though.

“The Bifrost?”

Harry nodded to the man, just noticing that his eyes were golden and shined with a strange inner light.

“Nice to meet you. Harry Potter, witch and sorcerer” Harry said with a slight bow in the man’s direction, receiving a bow in kind.

“Heimdall, Gatekeeper of the Bifrost. It is a pleasure to meet you at last, young one.”

“You know who I am?”

“I know all who exist within the Nine Realms, although your story is particularly interesting.”

“Er, thanks. Is it true you and Loki fought each other in the form of seals?” Harry asked unable to help himself, the man visibly caught off-guard.

“…Not that I can recall.”

“Huh. Wonder where that one came from.” Harry really should stop reading up on Asgardian folklore.

“Quite. Thor, your father wishes to speak with you. It was a pleasure talking to you, Harry.”

“You as well, Heimdall…do I just follow them or?” Harry said as Thor and Jane walked out onto the rainbow bridge…sickeningly lost in each other’s eyes.

“That’s probably for the best…oh, and you may want to let your father know where you are, he’s beginning to worry,” Heimdall said, looking not at Harry but somewhere out amongst the stars.

Harry winced but nodded, pulling out his phone to send a text…except he had no signal.

Which kind of made sense.

“I’ll open the Bifrost enough for you to send your message.”

“Is that allowed?”

“Probably not.”

A brief but reassuring text to Tony later, and Harry was on his way to explore _a whole new world oh Merlin Tony will be so jealous._

…and if he recorded his entire journey across the rainbow bridge to the golden palace of Asgard on his phone so Tony could look at it later, well…only Heimdall would know.

~HP¦MCU~

“Are my words mere noises to you that you ignore them completely?” a harsh voice interrupted the scene, Harry turning to face the newcomer.

He’d soon caught up to the two lovebirds, throwing in an occasional eye-roll or gag noise whenever they said something _truly_ gross (‘your beauty reminds me to treasure my sight’ – _gross_ Thor), the three ushered to the healing halls of the palace once they arrived there.

Harry, not knowing where anything was, just followed along…. although he wished he hadn’t drunk all that water before travelling to London with Wong, since his bladder had been about ready to leave his body.

Thankfully, one of the kind Asgardian healers had directed him to a nearby bathroom, Harry thanking her so profusely one might think she had saved his life.

He’d returned to see the ‘soul forge’ in action – it was _so cool_ , and made him wonder if he could do create a healing spell similar to it with his own magic. Unfortunately, he’d arrived just in time to hear Mr Grumpy enter.

“She is ill,” Thor said in response to the man.

“She is mortal, illness is their defining trait. And what of the boy, is he ill too?”

“He’s…a stowaway.”

“So not only do you disregard my orders, you insult them by bringing a child here? Neither belongs here in Asgard any more than goats belong at banquet tables.”

“Hey!” the two humans said simultaneously. Harry might not much like meeting new people – bar Heimdall, who was rather chill surprisingly – but he’d pipe up if someone insulted him.

“Who do you think you are?” the teen said, making every healer in the room wince and Thor slowly close his eyes.

“I am Odin, king of Asgard, Protector of the Nine Realms.” Odin said as if _that_ would be enough to stop a sassy teenager who should have been in a biology class right then.

“So as protector of the Nine Realms, isn’t it your duty to protect their inhabitants?”

“How dare you presume-“

“Wonder where you were last year then,” Harry said, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed. Men like Odin reminded Harry of Vernon Dursley…and he swore, after experiencing the love and care of Tony’s home, that he wouldn’t be treated like _that_ again.

“The destruction of the Bifrost prevented us from sending an army in Midgard’s defence,” Thor said, although he looked pained to say it. Harry wondered if there was a story there.

“Right…well, anyway, as a resident of Midgard, which is within the Nine Realms of Asgard’s domain, you’re honour bound to see Jane healed, since you must ‘protect’ her and others humans from Earth,” Harry said, wondering where he had gone wrong in life to think he’d get away with speaking to the King of Asgard in such a manner.

“Guards, take them both back to Midgard. Thor if I ever see that child again-“ but Odin’s words were cut short when a guard tried to grab Jane, yet another burst of dark-red energy exploding out from her in response. Harry just stood there unfazed.

Or at least, he had been until dark-red tendrils of liquid crept up from Jane’s mouth, rising up to the ceiling before turning and shotting themselves towards Harry.

He created an Eldritch shield within seconds, but it passed through it as if it hadn’t been there. It hit him square in the chest.

Fire and ice warred in his veins, Harry only distantly aware that his magic had been triggered, covering his body its dark green glow. The foreign energy felt as if it were inflating inside him, sitting just below his skin and pumping through his veins like molten iron.

But that didn’t seem to work. It changed forms, now feeling like a bubble in his stomach ready to pop but refusing to do so.

Then it changed again. And again. And again. Never finding purchase because _something_ was stopping it from doing so. Harry’s magic had grown in strength and density throughout the process, probably almost blinding the onlookers in the room.

His magic surged one final time, expelling the foreign substance into the atmosphere. Before anyone could react to it, it retreated into Jane, its original host.

“What. The _fuck_. Was that?” Harry asked hands on his knees, words broken by harsh breaths. He felt like sludge.

No one answered him, looking instead in various states of shock. Harry supposed that was fair.

Tony was definitely going to kill him.

~HP¦MCU~

“Um, hi. I’ve been told I’m to stay with you, so I don’t get into trouble.”

Harry tried to look as innocent as possible, even though news of his ‘stunt’ in the healing halls had probably already made its way to the queen’s ears. Odin, unwilling to admit Harry’s magic had (probably) scared him, had instructed him to go to the only person in the palace whose magic might be a match.

Queen Frigga herself.

Who looked awfully pleased about something. Harry didn’t know what it was, but it was the same look Tony got when he had dyed all of Bruce’s white shirts canary yellow.

“Of course! Come in, come in,” she said, holding open the door to her chambers and dismissing the guards that had escorted him. The room was tastefully decorated in blue silks, which fluttered gently from the large doorways that led to stone balconies.

The door shut behind him, and Harry had the sudden impression he’d entered the spider’s den, as it were.

“If the rumour mill is to be believed, you are a Midgardian Sorcerer?” she asked, directing him to follow. He sat in a chair opposite her, at her urging.

“Yes Ma’am,” Harry said, respecting her as she had respected him (unlike Odin), “but I’m also a witch too.”

“Ah! Not a wizard?”

“I prefer witch.” This was largely because it distanced him from the life he had once lived…plus, he didn’t really care for the gendered status of the term. He was a witch. Simple.

“Well, in that case, you might be able to…" she paused for a moment, eyes caught in thought, "tell me, what do you know of my son?” She said, flicking a hand to conjure a rather ornate tea set. Unlike his own magic or the Eldritch magic Harry could use, Frigga’s looked as if light itself was bending to her whim. Golden yellow, with just a hint of light green.

“Not much really. I haven’t talked to the Avengers who don’t live in the tower much.” Bar that conversation with Captain America, which Harry wouldn’t soon forget. Frigga paused as she poured them both drinks.

It didn’t escape Harry’s notice that she was doing such an action herself; not relying on servants or another to do so.

“I meant my other son, Loki.” She said after a moment, presenting Harry with a drink with a strong herbal aroma…although unlike anything he’d smelt before.

“Um, well, I didn’t speak much to him either. He was in the floor when I arrived on Earth, and then he was kept in a secure facility until he was sent back here…I think he might have seen me when he was about to leave though.” Harry said, more to himself than to his conversation partner. Loki had _definitely_ looked at him when he watched the two Asgardians travel home, via Astral projection.

“How do you mean? Were you hidden from mortal sight at the time?”

“Er, no. Well, kind of. I was in the astral dimension.”

“Ah, I see. Would you like to meet him?”

“Loki?”

“Yes…you see, I have been trying to talk to him, but his temper is only matched by Odin’s and Thor’s…he might take kindly to the presence of another magic user, besides myself.” She said, although didn’t look to be in a hurry to move. Nor did she look to truly believe her own words.

“….Now?”

“Of course! Tell me, do you know any illusion magic?” she asked, Harry quickly flipping through his mental list of spells.

“Er, no, not really.”

“Hmm. Well, I suppose I will have to teach you then. You say that you‘ve accessed the Astral dimension before?”

“Yeah, first time I tried.” Harry hoped he didn’t sound smug…but he had been quite proud at how fast he had picked up the skill.

“Well, in that case, hold my hand.” she presented her hand to Harry, the teen noting her flawless skin and reserved use of jewellery. The moment he made contact; her grip tightened. It wasn’t painful, but his magic _didn’t like it_.

“Hmm…your magic is incredibly adaptable if a little…temperamental. Relax yourself.” She commanded, Harry making a bit of a face at that but doing as instructed. He took a deep breath, the scent of the tea catching in his nose. Exhaling slowly, Harry tried to coax his magic into a more passive state.

It took a while, but it worked, his magic sighing like a grumpy cat denied food, but quiet all the same. Once calm, he noticed the slight warmth from Frigga’s hand, too hot for mere skin-to-skin contact.

“I’m going to make an illusion of us both. Focus on the feeling of the magic as it passes over you.” He did as instructed, holding in his surprise at his mirror image appearing opposite him.

He needed a haircut.

She had to do the spell eight times for Harry to get to grips with it, his own magic _learning_ from Frigga’s own. It was a little weird to experience if he were honest.

When he attempted it, it wasn’t Asgardian Magic which he ended up using, but his own natural magic _pretending_ to be Asgardian magic…it was all very weird.

His illusions were formed from a dark-green magical mist; not the bent-light like Frigga’s. But it got the job done.

“Good. Now, create your illusion, and split your mind between it and your real body, keeping your astral form centred in the material world.” She instructed, it took another fifteen-minutes or so for Harry to do that.

His magic just…understood what Frigga meant, even if Harry himself didn’t.

“Now, have your illusion hold the hand of mine…I’ll transport us to the prison.”

“Wait, Loki’s in jail?”

“Of course. Now hush.”

~HP¦MCU~

“The books I sent, do they not interest you?” Frigga asked, Loki turning to face them both…although Harry’s presence clearly took the man by surprise.

“Why have you brought a… _Midgardian_ to my cell? To see what’s become of the might of Loki?” he said, Frigga giving Harry _a look_ (which the teen interpreted to mean ‘see how dramatic he is? Really.’).

“I thought you may enjoy the company of another magic-user.”

“As if he would know anything I do not.” He said, effectively making Harry’s figurative hackles rise. He could understand that being in a cell might make anyone a bit…tetchy, but really, there was no need for rudeness.

“That depends, do you know how to be anything other than rude?” Harry asked, finding this whole experience just a little tiring. The next time Thor turned up, Harry was just going to leave the man to it. Asgard was cool and all, but this much interaction was really starting to wear him thin. He’d prefer to watch Dusty and Jarvis try to trap the other within a paradox.

“Do you know who you’re talking to? I’m L-“

“Loki, god of mischief, mother of a horse, I know.”

“ _Will you stop telling people I birthed a horse!_ ” Loki hissed, although Harry just gave him a flat look.

“Would you rather I call you the mother of a wolf? Fenris was it?”

“ _I did not birth a wolf!_ ”

“That sounds like something someone who birthed a horse would say,” Harry said, ignoring the man’s spluttering. Instead, he walked closer to the semi-transparent screen that acted as the cell’s walls.

It was definitely magical but bordering on the side of technology... Harry kind of wanted to know more about it.

“Mother, will you take away this insect?”

“No can do. Perhaps apologise and try again?” Frigga said, sitting in one of the chairs in the cell and reading a book from it’s tableside.

“Why should I apologise! He’s the one who barged into my cell.”

“I invited him. Harry, Loki says he’s sorry.”

“ _No, I do not!_ ”

“Apology accepted. Nice to meet you, Loki.” Harry said, enjoying how the man rubbed his temples and looked as though he’d rather be anywhere else. Frigga looked perfectly relaxed, however; she had obviously risen both Loki and Thor, so was used to their respective temper-tantrums.

Sucked to be in jail for Loki though - but that's what happened when you tried to enslave the human race. 

“I wish I could say the same, demon spawn,” Loki said, hurling a book straight through Harry’s face. His illusion flickered but didn’t vanish; the book hit the magical wall and bounced back into the cell.

Harry pursed his lips.

“You’re not very nice.”

“I am a _king_!”

“Of what?” Loki’s budding rage was cut short.

“Harry…” Frigga warned in a tone that alluded to a long history of dealing with quarrelling children. Harry huffed but didn’t push the point. “A true king admits his faults, Loki.” She said, moving her attention to her son, “what of the lives you took on Earth?”

“A mere handful compared to Odin.”

“…he has a point to be fair,” Harry said, drawing a confused look from the god and a tired one from the Queen.

“Your father-“

“He’s not my father!” Harry took a step back under the sudden change in volume, eyeing the man warily. Despite only being an illusion, he didn’t feel safe in the cell.

“…then am I not your mother?”

Harry felt _awkward_. Was he meant to be here for this heart to heart? He should have pretended to have the flu or something when Wong appeared to bring him to London.

Frigga’s illusion fizzled out the next moment, leaving Harry alone with the prisoner.

“Leave.”

“I’m not sure what happened between you two, and I don’t much like Odin, but…I think your mother cares for you a lot, and Thor probably does to-“ Harry said instead, interrupted by another book to the face.

He sighed.

“If you’re going to be like that, then I’ll go. But, if you ever come to Earth to _not_ enslave us, I’d be interested in what magic you know.”

“It would be far beyond your mortal capabilities-“

“Sure sure, whatever.” Harry said, dispelling his illusion.

His eyes opened to see the insides of the Queen’s chambers, although Frigga was nowhere in sight.

Harry sighed yet again, wondered just how _many_ times he’d sighed that day alone, and went out onto the balcony. No one would notice if he went for a little fly, would they? He felt awfully cramped in the palace.

Loki was definitely better than Snape had been though. 

~HP¦MCU~

He wasn’t sure what led him back to Heimdall, but after flying around Asgard for an hour or so, he’d grown…well, homesick he supposed.

The realm was truly beautiful with its gleaming spires reaching high into the sky, the land perpetually both in spring and autumn. Feeling the wind rush through his hair had been the perfect way to unwind after the uncomfortable conversation with Loki and Frigga.

But it didn’t have Tony, who’d be just a floor away and who would happily just chat to Harry about _literally_ anything. Nor did it have Jarvis, whose competitive streak was larger than Harry’s and Tony’s combined. It didn’t even have a Happy – the man had recovered with barely a scratch after the Mandarin incident and was always glad to chat to a fellow Downton Abbey fan.

He’d been away for all of what, six hours? Maybe? And he already missed the Tower like crazy.

He told as much to Heimdall, who never looked his way – gaze fixed always on the middle distance – but made appropriate sounds to show he was listening.

“You worry for them.” The man said when Harry was finished, the teen feeling rather wrung out. Harry nodded in response.

“Do you think you might be able to send me home?” Harry said soon after, the two having lapsed into a comfortable silence. He’d expected an instant reply.

Not the man suddenly tensing.

“If only I could…but there is something coming.” Was all the warning he gave before running out of the chamber, Harry rooted to the sport for a moment before running into action.

To save time, Harry shot into the air upon leaving the Bifrost’s chamber, just in time to see Heimdall takedown an _entire bloody spaceship_ by himself. He even landed in a perfect roll back onto the rainbow bridge, once the threat had been dealt with.

Except that wasn’t the end.

Harry felt his eyes go wide as both he and the Asgardian were plunged into shadow; a ship, easily ten times the size as the one that had just been destroyed, blocking out the light. Smaller ships detached from it, like fleas off the back of a dog.

His magic seemed to act outside of his conscious control, the magic that had previously covered his body so that he could fly coalescing into his hands. It gathered quickly, building and building until one of the ships came too close.

Harry clapped his hands together, a shockwave of green magic launching itself from his palms and striking the ship head-on. The ship’s surface exploded in response, its length coated in fire as it fell. Rather than hit the two on the bridge, the force of Harry’s magic carried it away – deep into space, where it would be cursed to float evermore.

But it wasn’t enough. Two, three, four more ships flew by Harry and Heimdall in pursuit of the palace. Harry, who’d just done magic he hadn’t even know he could do, felt exhaustion pull at his mind. He looked down at his hands – which looked completely normal – with no small amount of surprise.

“Go to the palace! I’ll guard the Bifrost!” Heimdall said from under him, Harry nodding in understanding. He shook himself, shedding the exhaustion that encroached his senses. Cracking his neck, side to side, Harry launched himself in the direction of the palace.

Fires had already broken out throughout the city, Asgard’s defences failing to match the manoeuvrability of the attacking ships. Harry’s smaller size and greater agility ensured he wasn’t hit by any stray shots from the anti-air cannons under Asgard’s control.

He ignored everything but his end goal. The forcefield that arose around the palace – only to break and shatter the next moment. The collapse of towers and spires that he’d only an hour ago filmed on his phone to show Tony later.

When a ship noticed him, coming towards him as if to ram him, Harry acted on instinct. Flicking his wrist almost painfully, the very space in front of him shattered – the approaching ship clueless as to it’s impending fate. The gateway to the Mirror Dimension Harry had made wasn’t large enough for the whole of the ship, causing the half that had remained in the Material World to crash and burn into the land below.

Black spots ran across his eyes as he closed the gateway, willing his body to continue to its destination. He’d used more magic than he ever in such a short time, and on such a grand scale, that his body wasn’t used to it.

Harry knew his magic wasn’t running low or anything like that; his body was simply needing to catch up to the magic he was using. When he got back to Earth, he’d have to add such larger magics to his training regime.

In the meantime, he aimed himself towards one of the higher balconies of the palace, arriving just in time by the looks of things.

“WITCH!” a pale dude with elf ears said to the captive Frigga, an illusion of Jane just fading out behind him. Harry landed on the balcony in one smooth motion. 

“You called?”

Washed-out Legolas turned to him, as did Frigga and the…monster that was holding her. Identifying _that_ as the bigger threat, Harry made a grabbing motion in the air.

Green magic covered his palm and the brute who had been holding Frigga. Another motion threw it to the wall – the stone cracking under the force of the throw.

Harry moved quickly to Frigga’s side, the Queen behind him as two Eldritch war-fans manifested in his hands.

The brute shook itself free from the wall and the rubble upon it, releasing a roar in the quiet of the room. Harry turned to face it, ignoring the other elf (?) as they made a retreat.

Like a bull, the brute charged towards him. Harry brought his hands together and pushed his palms flat into the air in front of him, lines of golden magic creating a barrier around him and Frigga.

It shook upon taking that first hit but held firm throughout the litany of kicks and punches the brute forced upon it. As it prepared another right hook, Harry took his chance.

A war fan in each hand, Harry fell to his knees on the floor, pivoting around the brute and slicing into its side. It roared at the pain, turning to swipe at Harry’s head, fist only stopped by a hastily cast shield. 

The force of it still sent the teen back, but that was fine; when the brute charged again, Harry’s green magic flared into his hands, and with a quick gesture, he sent the beast flying out of the doors to the balcony and into the open air.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” he said when one of the ships appeared from beneath the balcony, pale-elf and beast clinging to its side. Harry let out a deep breath, tension bleeding from his body as the ship retreated away.

Thor burst into the room not two seconds later, Odin close behind. They obviously hadn’t expected to see a haggard-looking teenager and a composed Asgardian Queen.

“Where the _fuck_ have you been?” Harry said, passing out the next moment.

~HP¦MCU~

“ _Unique…impossible…”_

_“Should be handled delicately, …”_

_“…inform me when he wakes”_

Words meant little to Harry’s ears when he wasn’t conscious enough to understand them.

~HP¦MCU~

“I know you’re there, young witch.”

Harry’s astral form huffed, but he made himself visible to the Queen whom he was visiting.

“I came to check how you were,” Harry said, casually floating in the middle of the room.

“Considering I was unharmed, and you’re currently in the healing halls, should it not be I asking how you are?” She said from her seat at her table, eyes fixed upon the embroidery she was completing.

“I’m fine.”

“Which is all the more strange. You took down two enemy ships, single-handed, and fought a Kursed dark elf on equal footing.”

“Well, I had Weetabix this morning, so…”

“Is that some kind of spell?”

“…No, never mind. What’s happened since I’ve been asleep?”

“Thor and Loki escaped to Svartalfheim, the realm of the Dark Elves, with Jane in tow.” She said, completely unfazed at the idea of her children likely in mortal danger.

“Right, well, can I go home? I don’t think I’ll be of much more use here.” plus Tony was _definitely_ going to ground him when he got home. Harry was going to be in so much trouble. Despite that though, Harry really just wanted to process the day and hang out in the labs with…well, with his dad.

“It would probably be for the best. Odin’s been in a strop ever since you saved my life, and what with the Princes breaking his law and Heimdall in the dungeons, Asgard is not safe for you.”

“…Is it always such a shit-show here?” Harry asked, Frigga laughing in response.

“Not always, but boys are famously hard to manage.”

“Well I mean they’re gods too…”

“Which makes the task even harder. Now, you go home. I’ll deal with Odin until the boys come back. Thank you, Harry, for saving my life.” She stood then, bowing low at the waist. Harry nodded in return, feeling rather bashful.

“Er, anytime. Do you have any idea how I can get home?” if Heimdall wasn’t at the Bifrost, well, he didn’t much fancy his chances.

“Are you not capable of conjuring a portal? Midgardian sorcery tends to ignore the trivialities of distance.”

“But…I’ve never made a portal to another _realm_ before.”

“Well, there’s no better time than now. If it works, do pop by later; I have a few spell books that may interest you.” She said, the dismissal clear. Harry bid her goodbye before travelling back to his physical body.

Somehow, his sling ring had stayed put on his belt during the battle.

Thinking of his room back at Avengers Tower, Harry was only half surprised to actually _make_ a portal; the top of _his_ bed had never looked so inviting.

A gasp behind him prompted him to turn around, a stunned healer dropping her pile of linens as she looked between him and the fiery portal now behind him. Sending her a wave, Harry jumped backwards.

Landing onto his bed in the tower - mercifully free of books or anything else that would make a landing painful – Harry closed the portal with a grateful exhale. He’d get into pyjamas just as soon as he showered…

“Greetings Harry. Mr Stark wishes you to know that you are grounded ‘until the sun explodes and then seven decades after’, and that ‘one text saying you’re ‘fine on Asgard and not to worry’ is not enough. He also asks whether or not you took photos, and how Thor is.”

Harry groaned, closing his eyes and turning over so that his face was _deep_ into his pillow.

“Jarvis? How screwed am I?” he asked, although it came out muffled.

“I would say very, Harry.”

Great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've mapped Harry's abilities onto what Doctor Strange was capable of after a 1 1/2 years training in the mystic arts, but do remember Harry has only scratched the surface of his own magic - and doesn't really know what he's capable of in that regard. 
> 
> I also appreciate the time-jumps can be a little disconcerting, from a character growth angle, but this is going to be the 'fastest' book in the trilogy: it's important to set up Harry's abilities in the MCU before the events of Civil War, Doctor Strange, and Homecoming (BK II) and the later MCU events (BK III).


	11. Worries Abound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's breaking of the 'check-in' rule (and that whole stunt on Asgard) weren't without consequences. Thor pops in to say hello too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy this chapter filled with fluff.

_16 th November 2013_

“…and then I _tried_ to come home but these elves started to attack and Heimdall told me to go to the palace, _but_ I didn’t know there’d be a Hulk-sized minotaur there and anyway the queen was in danger so I might have maybe helped out.”

“Breathe Harry,” Tony said, face carefully blank and doing _nothing_ for Harry’s worry. The man had let him shower and change into a pair of warm flannel pyjamas, but had asked for a ‘debrief’ before he could collapse into his bed. Harry ,who had presumably been asleep in the healing halls of Asgard anyway, wasn’t that tired.

So he’d given Tony the rundown of events, it all coming out in one long sentence that just _kept on going_. His lungs burned as he breathed in deep, restoring oxygen to his body.

“…I’m sorry.” Harry hung his head, feeling remarkably small inn the room. It was only Tony and himself in the penthouse, Pepper still being at the office and Bruce downstairs in his room.

Guilt gnawed away in Harry’s stomach as he stood there, toes tensing and relaxing in the soft carpet beneath him. He knew that, if he looked up and saw Tony’s disappointment, he’d do something embarrassing like start to cry.

He’d spoken back to _Odin,_ a literal king amongst gods without issue…but Tony had given everything to him ever since he’d arrived here, and Harry cared about his opinion _so much_ it hurt. What was worse was that Harry had had the chance to come back earlier – when he first arrived on Asgard, Heimdall would probably have let him return…but that hadn’t even crossed his mind. He’d complained about being there mentally of course…but he had wanted to see Asgard, just like almost every human had ever since _gods_ had descended amongst them.

He didn’t look up when Tony moved, keeping his head bowed in a show of subservience. He’d never really gone against the man’s wishes – since often they were on the same page about everything – but the man had been _worried_ when he had left for London with Wong…and Harry had wound up facing an alien threat.

Perhaps worst of all though, was the fact that Harry did not know how he’d react. Tony had never raised his voice to him or, merlin forbid, hit him…but his only other experience of ‘breaking the rules’ was when he was at the Dursleys, and _they_ had hated him.

Looking down to the ground as he was, Harry didn’t see Tony’s arms raise until he was being gripped in a tight hug. By far one of the best feelings Harry had grown to know, he felt his own arms rise up around the other’s waist.

“I’m not going to say it’s alright because you did promise me you’d stay out of trouble, but I’m just glad you’re safe.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry said, voice muffled in Tony’s shift.

“I know, it’s why I’m not mad or anything. But you know you’re grounded right? If not for this stunt, then because you upset Dusty.” Tony said, breaking the hug and turning back to sit on the couch. Harry, taking the opportunity now that the man’s back was turned, quickly wiped his eyes on his shirt sleeves.

“Dusty?” Harry asked, coming over to sit beside Tony on the couch. He pulled his feet up under him upon doing so.

“Yep. He wanted to go with you, he’s only a young A.I. you know.” Tony said, raising an arm and pulling Harry in a bit closer. With his free hand, he picked up the television remote, quickly putting some television show on. What it was, Harry didn’t know.

“Still can’t believe you put a baby A.I. in a Dalek.”

“And I can’t believe you named him ‘Dusty’ because he looked like a dustbin. Now sleep, we’ll talk about your retribution tomorrow.”

“Retribution?” Harry felt suddenly rather sleepy, the scent of motor oil and laundry detergent lulling him into slumber.

“Kid, we were worried sick; you’re grounded for a least a month, and no portals either. Dusty’s under strict instructions to follow you if necessary,”

“I don’t want a Dalek following me about.”

“Well, tough shit. Now sleep, brat.” The last thing Harry felt was Tony ruffling his hair, sleep claiming him the next moment.

~HP¦MCU~

_17 th November 2013 _

“Greetings Harry. Why don’t you love me?”

Harry turned slowly to face his dad – the man wearing a shit-eating grin.

“Did you give Dusty a program to…guilt trip me?”

“Obviously. And don’t try to get Jarvis to hack him again; Dusty’s now closed-circuit.”

Harry spent the next five minutes apologising to a _Dalek_ of all things, patting Dusty’s chrome head to help the apology. It worked, eventually, with the still-sad Dalek leaving the lab and going to ‘check the perimeter’ for threats.

Dusty even moved with his eyestalk down, facing the floor like a sad little puppy.

“I thought Dusty’s A.I. was to be only a basic conversation partner?” Harry asked, taking the seat opposite Tony in the lab. The man was tinkering with some suit or another (it looked a little thinner than his normal ones though).

“He was…but I’ve upgraded him a little. He’s about half of what Jarvis was when I first made him now.”

“It does feel as if I have a child now, Sir,” Jarvis said, Harry sending an incredulous look to his father, to which he just smiled.

“Jarvis? Did Tony tell you to say that?”

“Indeed, Harry. I questioned why but he would not inform me as to its purpose.” Jarvis said sounding honestly confused; Harry gave Tony a flat look.

“Right, ok, so besides the guilt trip, what else do you have in store for me?” Harry said, doing his best to hide the insecurity in his tone. Tony had been relatively chill about the whole thing, for all that Harry had obviously worried him.

Truthfully, knowing that he’d caused the man that much worry had been enough to make him regret his actions (and to promise himself he’d send Tony more than an ‘I’m ok’ if he ever found himself on a different planet).

They’d gone over the terms of his ‘grounding’ that morning at breakfast – no sling ring for a month (he could walk like a normal human being)…but because he wasn’t exactly like normal teenagers, Tony had seemed to be at a bit of a loss as to how to tell him off.

Bar using overly-sensitive A.I.’s to guilt-trip him.

“You’ll be spending the day organising the shipment,” Tony said, which was entirely unhelpful.

“Shipment?”

“Ever since the…invasion, I’ve been thinking of ways to be, well, prepared in case anything else decides the Earth is prime real-estate,” Tony said, Harry nodding along. The subject was still difficult for the man, but Harry knew he was having regular chats with Bruce about it and had kept away from any alcohol in the meantime.

Harry was happy every time he saw that Tony was getting better. It was still a process, but he looked much better compared to how he had been a year ago.

“So what’s the shipment?”

“Parts, mostly. Dusty gave me the idea of making drones to protect people if anything like the invasion happens again, except less Dalek-y and more like my suit,” Tony rotated his screen at that, complex diagrams of human-shaped drones covering the screen.

“Right…where are the parts?” Harry couldn’t see any boxes or anything anywhere…but then Tony smirked, and Harry felt just a little ill.

~HP¦MCU~

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Nope.”

“That’s-that’s got to be…”

“243 crates, counted ‘em myself.”

“Actually Sir, I counted them.”

“Well, Jarvis counted them.” Tony corrected, unfazed by his A.I. calling him out. Harry had to just…look out.

He and Tony were on a raised platform, far beneath Avengers Tower in a sub-basement Harry was only just finding out about (it was new apparently). Beneath them crates, each as tall as the Hulk, stretched out far into the distance.

“This… this would take days.”

“Yup, but I’ll be there right alongside you,” Tony said, ruffling Harry’s hair _yet again_. He made a sound of protest, trying to flatten his usually messy hair that now looked even worse.

They’d gotten halfway down the steps – Tony whistling a tune as they went – when Jarvis spoke out.

“Sir, a Mr Odinson seems to be approaching the tower.” The A.I. informed, halting the two in their step.

Harry felt his stomach tense.

“Thor?”

“Indeed Sir, he’s just entered the penthouse through the third window from the right.” Jarvis sounded…resigned.

“Right…well, best come with me kid. Jarvis, can I leave you to deal with this?” Tony said, already turning back up the stairs.

“Of course, Sir.” Harry watched, wide-eyed, as a series of robots filed into the room, each going about some pre-ordered task.

“Wha-?”

“You didn’t think I’d make you sort them all out did you? Was going to do it for an hour or so before bailing. Come on, Jarvis has got it handled.” Tony said, jumping up the stairs and away from Harry’s unbelieving look.

~HP¦MCU~

“Ah! I apologise for your window, I did not see it.” Thor said, Harry mentally comparing the god of thunder to a bird who’d headbutted a glass-door.

“Jarvis? Place an order for a new window.” Tony said, completely unaffected.

“Right away, sir.”

“Not that it’s not good to see you, Pikachu, but why’re you here? Because if you’ve come to take my kid away again we’re going to have a problem.” Tony looked completely relaxed, although Jarvis didn’t seem to possess the same level of chill.

“Target is in sight Sir, permission to fire?” Jarvis said, voice rather light. It completely opposed the gatling gun under the A.I.’s control that had descended from the ceiling and was pointed straight at the Asgardian’s chest.

“That was a mistake! I am here to give my thanks to your…child? I was unaware you were a son of Stark.” Thor directed the last part to Harry, who flushed a little in response.

“Er, yeah. I am…I guess?” Harry sent a questioning look towards Tony, who rolled his eyes but threw an arm around his shoulder.

“He is. Jarvis? Put the welcoming party to sleep.”

“Permission to respectfully decline Sir?”

“What? No, Jarvis, put away the gun.”

“…I disrespectively decline, Sir. Mr Odinson’s actions may have harmed Harry if he was any less powerful.” Jarvis said, gun’s sights still set upon the god. Harry shared a _look_ with Tony. Since when had Jarvis been able to disregard direct orders?

“Right, best make it quick then. What are you here for?” Tony moved over to the bar, gesturing to Harry and the Asgardian to do the same. Harry had to hop-up a bit to sit on one of the stools though.

“I am here to thank your son, he did Asgard a great service,” Thor said, looking down at the frivolous, pink-coloured drink he was given. The man looked betrayed.

“Yeah, he’s good like that. Whatya having kid? Pepsi, lemonade?”

“I’ll have a Pepsi, please….thanks.” Harry chose not to comment on the crazy-straw that the drink came with though.

“Might I have something less…pink?”

“Sorry hot stuff, tower’s alcohol free now. You’ll have your pink lemonade and you’ll like it.”

“…so be it,” Thor said, sounding as if he’d rather go a few rounds with a Cerberus than drink it. “But I am not here to engage in revelry. Your son must be rewarded for his actions.”

“Kid? Anything to say?”

“Um... well, I only did what was right, I don’t think I deserve anything for that,” Harry said, resolutely ignoring the flat look Tony was giving him in favour for watching the liquid pass through his straw.

“Right, well, feel free to give me whatever the reward is; I’ll keep hold of it until he stops being all gross and righteous,” Tony said, Harry huffing but not disagreeing. He’d feel too awkward profiting from just doing…well, what he could to help.

“He is to be given a title by Odin himself!”

Harry spluttered into his drink, coughing harshly before looking at Thor incredulously, turning to Tony to have a conversation by facial expression alone.

Stunned.

Refusal.

Abject horror.

Resignation.

Harry sighed.

“I really don’t think I should, but I get the feeling you won’t except no for an answer,” Harry said, Thor patting his back in a sign of what-would-be merriment. Unfortunately, Thor’s Asgardian physiology meant the pat was more like a full-body hit to the shoulder blades. Harry winced, rolling out his shoulders – not that the god noticed.

Although Jarvis’ gun did make a warning sound.

“Wonderful! I will contact Heimdall-“

“No can do Pointbreak. Kid’s grounded for the month.”

“Ground-ed?” Thor said, looking incredibly confused at the term.

“I’m not allowed to leave the tower.”

“Why not? If I had done what you had, I would have feasts held in my honour!”

“Yeah, well, he’s a thirteen-year-old kid who was meant to check in every six-hours…but we are having pizza tonight. Whatcha want kid?”

“Er, I’ll have Hawaiian.”

“…I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Pineapple is fine on pizza!”

“Its a fruit!”

“So are tomatoes but _they’re_ used to make the sauce!”

“I thought we agreed last time that I was right?”

“Jarvis? How did we decide the winner last time?”

“The result of the twenty-second argument of ‘does pineapple belong on pizza’ ended with a stalemate, as Mr Banner required Mr Stark’s aid to create the base-code for the Ultron programme,” Jarvis answered, Harry sending Tony a ‘told-ya-so’ look.

“You mortals are so…strange.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Now, anything else we can help you with? Need some more batteries for your hammer or something?” Tony said, downing a tumbler of iced tea.

“Er, no? I am unfamiliar with this term, but my mother wished for you to have these,” Thor pulled out a tiny pile of…something, that fit between his finger and thumb, “I can never work out how to break her charms though.” He eyed the bundle with a frown.

“May I?” Harry asked, presenting his palm for Thor to drop the package onto. Harry’s magic coated the parcel the moment his skin touched its surface.

The parcel grew from the size of a Lego block into the size of a large box, the teen quickly placing it onto the bar’s surface left his hand be crushed under the weight of it. It was wrapped in dark-blue silk.

“When you are permitted to leave this…tower, let Heimdall know. Your bravery will not go unnoticed.” Thor said before going to the window and casually jumping out of it.

The man’s hammer was in his hand before Harry could worry, the man’s form quickly shrinking as he flew away.

Harry shook his head and turned back to the package on the table; Tony had already undone the knot on the top, blue silk falling about it to reveal a metal box with no lid.

Asgardian runes were inscribed across its sides, with large triquetra on each panel’s centre.

“It’s bigger on the inside!” Tony said, voice echoing from where his head was inside the box. Harry jumped up on his stool to look inside too.

Later, after getting everything out of the box, Harry and Tony would end up looking at each thing in turn. Piles of Asgardian fruit neither had ever seen before, perfectly ripe and crisp to the taste (although one tasted of vinegar – neither were a fan). Swathes of fabric were pulled out, some thicker than others, all in shades of greens, silvers, and blacks (Tony had looked disappointed, but had agreed that Harry was _definitely_ sticking to that colour scheme, it seemed). Most interesting to the inventor however had been the piles of gold and silver ingots, at least ten of each, with a small note reading _Asgardian Gold_ and _Asgardian Steel_ resting on top of each.

Harry let Tony have them, obviously. The man had hugged the metal bars like a dragon guarding its hoard, or a toddler refusing to give up her newest stuffed toy.

Five books of magic were also there; one on illusion casting, one on weapon manifestation, two others on general techniques, and one _huge_ one which seemed to be a compendium of Asgardian Runes and their uses. As if jealous, Harry’s grimoire materialised above the other books in a flurry of black-green magic– something Harry didn’t even realise it _could_ do – and demanded attention.

He’d expected to open it and see a new spell…not _twenty pages filled in!_ Half were things he’d discovered – a page on Asgardian illusions, that thunder-clap of magic he’d made back on Asgard to destroy a ship – but there were a few new spells he’d have to try out. As if not to be outdone, one double-page spread even had a rune pictured, completely different to those from Asgard.

Behind him, Tony made a sound of excitement from where he’d been analysing the atomic composition of his new metal, making Harry to roll his eyes.

It’s a good job they both had things to keep them occupied; Merlin knew what they’d get up to otherwise.

_9 th December 2013_

“Pepper? Can I ask you something?”

“Of course, just a mo.” She pulled out what looked to be a silver marble from her pocket, tossing it onto the table between them. It shone blue upon landing.

“Anti-eavesdropping technology; CCTV will just see a white spot on their recordings, and anyone who tries to listen in will just hear static.” Pepper explained at Harry’s curious look.

“Tony?”

“Of course. Now, what did you want to talk about?”

The two were sitting in a private room within a restaurant having completed Harry’s Christmas shopping – it was the only time Tony allowed him to go out the tower, due to his current grounding. Harry wasn’t much of a fan of large groups of people (or indeed, people in general) so he hadn’t really minded the grounding. The Ancient One still came round for his lessons every other day, so there wasn’t exactly much he was missing.

But there had been something that was weighing on Harry’s mind throughout his forced-stay inside.

“Is Tony still mad with me?”

“…what? No? At least I don’t think so. Tony wasn’t even mad to begin with.”

“But…I just, I thought he’d be angrier with me, but nothings really happened besides being grounded…I…I feel like there should have been…more.”

“More what?” she asked in a gentle voice, although Harry refused to make eye contact, instead shuffling the food around on his plate with a fork.

“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug, finally, “I just expected…something worse.”

“Did you expect worse because its Tony, or worse because of how someone else has treated you in the past?” she said, effectively bringing Harry up-short.

She’d hit the nail on the bloody head. For the past few weeks, he’d been on edge, worrying if Tony was going to pull out another punishment from somewhere, or hold the event over Harry’s head…but Tony had never given him any reason to not trust him, or to believe he’d act that way.

“I’ve been a fool.” He said, sighing towards his plate.

“Maybe you and Tony should have a discussion about some ground rules?”

“Ground rules for what?”

“…Harry, Tony’s as new to this fatherhood thing as you are to having a father figure. Talk to him about what you both want. Tony does best when he knows how to react to the people around him, so, chat. He’s probably overthinking the whole thing as much as you.”

~HP¦MCU~

“Um, Dad? _Dad?_ ” Tony turned around, looking as if for a moment he’d forgotten he was ‘dad’ by this point.

“Kid? What’s up?”

“Er, could we talk?”

“…we already are?”

“No, well yeah, but I mean about something important.” Tony’s face took on a neutral look, but he nodded and gestured for Harry to come in to the lab. The two sat on the couches in the corner, Bruce hadn’t even notice them come in, too focused on his current project (the man also had thick headphones on though, so it was no wonder that he hadn’t heard Harry come in).

“You ok?” Tony asked after a moment, Harry taking a fortifying breath before nodding.

“Pepper says that we should set ground rules? Well, she suggested it.”

“I know, she told me. Want me to go first? You look like you’re about to lay an egg.” Harry frowned at the imagery but nodded all the same.

“Right…” Tony pulled out his phone, presumably going to his notes app which was impossibly cluttered, “So, you’ve got to check in every six hours if you’re going anywhere, and it’s got to be more than an ‘I’m on Asgard but I’m ok’, deal?”

“Yeah, that’s fair. Sorry again-“

“Kid, it’s alright. Now, lets see…back in the tower by ten, _even if_ you’re on a mission somewhere. Since you can portal your way about, there’s no reason you can’t do that one.”

“That’s…also fair.” Plus besides the whole Asgard debacle, he’d never stayed out overnight.

“Right, um…gotta say, you’re a pretty great kid, so it’s not like I’ve got to tell you to be respectful or anything like that… but, if you do break those two rules, you’ll only be grounded or have to do something tedious like sort out machine parts, no matter what, you’ll have three meals a day and I’m incredibly against corporal punishment so…you got anything for me?”

“Um…” Harry began, honestly just relieved by most of what Tony had said, “is no shouting possible? I’m just, not really a fan.”

“Easy. Done. Well, unless I stub my toe but that’s not directed at you.” Harry rolled his eyes but nodded with a smile.

“I couldn’t really think of anything you haven’t already said, so…”

“Well, how about if there is anything, we chat again, hmm? Now, since you’re here, there’s actually something I’d like to talk to you about – nothing bad!” Tony said quickly, leaning over to a nearby table and grabbing a Stark tablet.

“So, since you don’t really exist, like, anywhere, I’ve been, well forging a new identity for you. Jarvis has been hacking SHIELD on the daily to plant the seeds for it, and it should be done soon…there’s just something I want your opinion on,” Tony held out the tablet, letting Harry pick it up and read what was on it.

_Harry James Stark_

“You…you want to…?”

“Adopt you, yeah. It’s a little tricky since you don’t exist, so it’s easier to invent you as the result of…well, a past fling of mine. Jarvis has been hacking SHIELD hundreds of times a day to hide these additions, but once you’ve decided, we’ll wait for a good opportunity to ‘publish’ your identity.”

“Once I decide?”

“Well sure, if you don’t wanna- _oof_ ” Tony’s words were cut off when Harry launched himself at the man, grabbing the older in a hug. The momentum carried him backwards, laughing as they tumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! the upcoming updates won't be as quick I'm afraid as I'm currently in the middle of writing my third-year dissertation, which kind of needs to take priority.
> 
> Updates will therefore be every-other-day, which isn't as great as I have been posting but...I still think it's a fair schedule ヾ(^▽^*)))
> 
> But I hope you enjoyed this fluffy chapter! Comments and Kudos are appreciated :D stay safe folks!


	12. Tinkerer, Tailor; Solider, Spy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who knew Tony could sew? Or that Harry would get his first relic at only thirteen?

_26 th December 2013_

“Is this really necessary?”

“One-hundred percent, now shush.”

“ _Ow!”_

“I said stand still!”

“Why are you using pins anyway?”

“…I’m a traditionalist. No, unless you want to become a pincushion, you gotta stand still!” Tony emphasised this point by placing _yet another_ pin in the material that was covering Harry’s body, barely missing Harry’s skin.

“I still don’t understand why you’re doing this.”

“If you’re going to be a Stark, you’ve got to look good doing it.”

“…since when did you sew anyway?”

“Hmm? Oh, I don’t. _Well_ , I can, but I don’t. This is just because I just want to get to grips with this fancy Asgardian fabric, which _would be over sooner if you stood still_.”

“Sorry…couldn’t you just have scanned me or something?”

“Well yeah, but this fabric is _stretchy_ , like insanely so: I needed to see how it fit on the body before even attempting to use any of it. Right, last pin.” A few minutes later and Harry was mercifully freed from Tony’s clutches, the man noting down the measurements whilst the teen changed into his normal clothes.

“Is there anything else? It’s just that Pepper wanted to chat with me about the press conference…” which Harry was _not_ looking forward to, but if it meant he’d be Tony son? Officially? Well, Harry would deal with the swarms of reporters if he had to.

“Yup!” Tony said, directing Harry into the scanning platform within the lab. He’d only ever used it once before, but since he only had to stand there it was hardly a challenge. As before, a metal sensor rose from the floor and spun, scanning him completely.

“Scan complete Sir, shall I begin the Inheritance protocol?”

“Do it Jarvis, and remember the colour palette,” Tony said, gesturing for Harry to follow him to a floor-to-ceiling screen. The man looked like a kid in a candy shop, barely containing his excitement.

“Er, Dad? What’s going on?” Harry asked as a program began to load on the screen. There was no answer, however.

Instead, Harry’s silhouette appeared on the screen…next to an equally sized Iron Man suit – except, unlike Tony’s red and gold, it was green and silver in colour.

“You didn’t.”

“I definitely did! Well, I haven’t yet, but I will!”

“…whilst I appreciate it, _a lot_ …I’m not sure it's my…style.”

“This is _everyone’s_ style! You could be Iron Boy!” Harry eyed the man awkwardly, unwilling to say _no_ because it was incredibly thoughtful…but he wasn’t sure how easy it would be to use his magic whilst in the suit. Plus…the name. Please no.

Tony stayed quiet for all of ten seconds before rolling his eyes and changing the screen.

Rather than the full Iron Man suit that had previously been displayed, there was now only a breastplate; annotations on the display revealing it to be made from Asgardian Steel. The rest of the outfit consisted of black and green robes.

“Ok…that’s better,” Harry said, Tony, snorting at the teen’s look of relief.

“As much as I would’ve loved to have made you a suit, I figured you’d probably prefer a shitty-robe design. _But_ it does come with a full-bodied under-suit, with Jarvis fully integrated; he’ll be able to monitor your condition, and you’ll be able to chat to him with…” Tony said, a drum-roll sounding out in the room – the man had obviously planned this.

“Ta-da!” a small comms device rested on Tony’s palm, looking rather plain.

“…what do I do with it?”

“You wear it, obviously,” Tony said flatly, reaching over to attach it to Harry’s right ear, “Whenever you go out on a mission or anything, you’ve got to wear it, _especially_ until I get your super-suit made.”

Understanding the seriousness of Tony’s words, Harry nodded.

“Good. Now Sandra’s told me I can't give you fancy robes until you’re a ‘Mystic Master’-“

“Master of the Mystic Arts,” Harry interrupted, to which Tony waved a hand dismissively.

“Yeah, that, but she agreed that you should wear the under armour and breastplate until then, should take me a week to make,” Tony said, a thoughtful look falling across his face. For the rest of the day, the two worked over the design.

Occasionally with fashion advice from Jarvis, who was surprisingly knowledgeable for a being without physical form.

~HP¦MCU~

_27 th December 2013_

“You have improved a great deal Harry, you should be proud.”

“Thank you, but I still haven’t won against you,” Harry said, breath coming in pants from his place on the floor, the Ancient One looking down fondly at him.

“Ah but I have a good seven-hundred years more experience than you, Harry. Now, there is something I wish to discuss with you, once you’ve regained your ability to function like a normal human being.” She took her usual seat by the window, and by the time Harry had crawled his way over, had a pot of tea ready for them both.

“Ow,” Harry said, cracking his neck to try and relieve the tension. The Ancient One rolled her eyes at him.

“You’ve had worse. Now, what do you know of relics?” she poured him a tea, which he thanked her for before he answered her question.

“They’re items imbued with magical properties, usually containing enchantments which are too unstable or too powerful for most to use.”

“Quite correct. The relic chooses the sorcerer –“ Harry had a sudden feeling of deja-vu “- but almost all sorcerers have one or two bonded to them in their life. There are many different types of course; some, completely offensive in nature, others defensive, and even more which provide some kind of additional ability or effect. No two relics are the same, just as no two sorcerers are the same.”

Harry nodded, likening the entire conversation to the one he had once had in Ollivander’s shop.

“I believe it is time for you to find your first relic, which is why we will be travelling to the Sanctums and Kamar-Taj today – your father has already given his permission, although he insists you take your phone.” She said, preventing any worries on that front.

~HP¦MCU~

Their first stop was the Hong Kong sanctum.

“Ah, one of the Wands of Watoomb…”

“Is it meant to do that?”

“…No…perhaps it would be best for you to put it down and pretend you’ve never seen it before.”

Harry nodded quickly, replacing the wand which had been _dangerously_ sparkling in his hand. It calmed down once it was placed on its plinth.

He next approached, an odd-looking staff,

“The Staff of One? It may be the _one_ for you.”

“Did you just-?”

“I did. It will never happen again.”

The staff _avoided_ him, floating away from his outstretched hand. Harry sighed in response; it was just like that nightmare of choosing a wand, except nothing had blown up yet.

~HP¦MCU~

“You know I didn’t mean to, right?”

“Of course, I know that, but let’s not tell anyone else you blew up the ancient spindle of fate, hmm?”

They left the London Sanctum in low spirits, Harry patting out a small flame that was living on his shoulder.

~HP¦MCU~

“I’m not holding out much hope here.”

“You’ll find a relic that suits you soon, Harry. Now, why not look around to see if anything calls to you?”

Their final stop was the New York Sanctum – Kamar-Taj had been a fruitless visit in the hunt for a relic – and Harry’s mood was…subdued. He hadn’t even thought about having a relic before today, but ever since the Ancient One had mentioned them, he’d been eager to find one for him. If it was anything like his wand…well, he wanted something with that kind of connection again.

Unfortunately, nothing ‘called’ to Harry much here either. Although…

“What’s that?” Harry asked, eyeing the red fabric curiously.

“The Cloak of Levitation…not for you, however, I think.” But that hadn’t been what harry had been considering. Sorcerors didn’t really wear cloaks, preferring their tighter robes than the fabric which could be a strategic weakness if grabbed, but…

“I have a cloak…” Harry said, about ready to slap himself around the head at _forgetting_. The Ancient One let out a long-suffering sigh behind him, muttering something about ‘finally’, although Harry didn’t catch the specifics.

He’d shoved his cloak into his wardrobe at the Tower when he had awoken post-breakdown, worried that someone would steal it from him and so determined to hide it. Even though Tony had, at the time, neatly folded it on a nearby chair for him to use, he’d fallen back onto his old habit of hiding _everything_ he had, so that it couldn’t taken away from him.

And, probably because of the chaos his life had turned into in the meantime, he’d forgotten completely about it.

“May I be excused?” Harry said, already creating a portal for him to jump through.

“Of course. I’ll see you for our next training session.” The Ancient One said, Harry throwing a ‘bye!’ behind him as he appeared in his room at the tower.

Hoodies and trousers that he’d thrown into his wardrobe post-laundry were dug out to pile up behind him on the carpet, the odd pair of trainers soon after. Belatedly, he realised just _how much stuff_ he had, all thanks to Tony.

But he’d thank the man (for probably the millionth time) after…yes!

Beautifully silky fabric pooled at the base of his wardrobe, flowing over his hands like liquid moonlight. His magic surged out of his hands upon touching it, coating the surface before sinking into the fabric. Harry shivered at the feeling.

And felt his eyes go wide as the cloak _moved_.

It arose from his hands, like water falling in reverse from a faucet, until it stood floating just slightly off the floor, completely outstretched. Harry knew by looking at it that it was too big for him – it had always been – but that it _may_ fit him when he was older.

Still kneeling on the floor as he was, Harry stood up, intent on putting the cloak on, only to jump when the cloak moved to rest upon his shoulders. It seemed to shrink as well, just enough so that it wasn’t dragging on the floor beneath him, but only _just_ hitting the floor.

It…didn’t render him invisible though. Which Harry thought was a little disappointing. The cloak trembled in response, Harry getting the distinct impression that it had _huffed_ before the hood flipped up over his head and eyes.

The mirror next to his wardrobe showed him to be completely invisible.

“Huh...sorry for doubting you?” Harry said, feeling rather foolish at talking to an inanimate object but not really surprised when the fabric gave off a happy shiver.

His life was just weird, apparently.

~HP¦MCU~

“That’s impossible.”

“Well, it clearly isn’t.”

“No, as in…it’s scientifically impossible.”

“Well so am I, so…”

“Ok, point.”

Harry had worn the cloak to show his dad, making the man almost jump out of his skin from where he’d been working on Harry’s armour. He’d laughed at his reaction, but was now under questioning.

Because his cloak shouldn’t exist.

 _Nothing_ passed through it. Literally nothing. No traces of omega radiation could be detected, whilst infra-red was just as useless for decerning Harry’s location when wearing the cloak. Tony even theorised that a bullet wouldn’t be able to damage the fabric: it was not made from threads or interwoven materials…it just appeared to be a sheet of singularly composed matter.

Which…shouldn’t exist apparently.

The fabric didn’t even cast a shadow!

But more than that, the cloak was _angsty_ at the testing, dramatically falling to the floor whenever Tony approached it after the first hour of testing. Apparently, it possessed as much patience as Harry himself had.

Eventually, Tony admitted defeat – for now at least – and Harry and his cloak were allowed to go start dinner, content in breaking all laws of physics as they went.

~HP¦MCU~

_2 nd January 2014_

“Sir, it appears Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers are approaching the lift,” Jarvis said as Harry and Tony were putting the finishing touches to the younger’s breastplate: Harry was in the process of inscribing Asgardian runes on its insides to reinforce its structure, with Tony watching on curiously (the man was definitely going to try some out himself).

Their relaxed mood evaporated quickly at the news.

“Is Miss Romanoff nice?” Harry asked. He’d met Rogers – and hadn’t been much impressed – but hadn’t interacted with any other avenger bar Bruce and, well, Tony obviously. He’d read up on them via Jarvis…but he’d thought Captain America was cool until meeting him in person.

The guy was a bit of a dick.

“Nat is the only person I know who I don’t know,” Tony said, which took a moment for Harry to translate into something that made sense.

He failed.

“What?”

“She’s a master spy Harry, if she’s nice she’s nice but she could _not_ be nice. She managed to become Pepper’s assistant a while back without any of us knowing about her allegiance to SHIELD.”

“…well I mean she couldn’t do it again, right?”

“Harry, she could have been the receptionist downstairs for the past month and we wouldn’t have known, she’s _good_ at her job.”

“Right, like that’s not worrying or anything.”

“I have updated my facial recognition capabilities since she was last on the property, Harry, there is a thirty-two percent chance that she would be recognised.”

“…that’s still quite low, though.”

“It was fifteen-percent last time kid.”

“Really?”

“Yup. Don’t tell her that though. Do you want to skip this shit-show and go upstairs?”

“Hell no. Starks stick together.” Harry said, cursing the flush that crept up his cheeks at referring to himself as a ‘Stark’. Tony ruffled his hair, Harry tapping the man’s hands away with a noise of protest.

“Never pictured you to be so domestic, Stark.”

Harry and Tony turned to the red-head, a knowing-smirk on her features that set off Harry’s warning bells – she knew more than she was letting on.

But considering who she was, Harry presumed that was just who she is.

“Stark. Kid.” Rogers said in greeting, following Romanoff like a golden retriever. Harry felt his face sour.

“How may we help you today? I’m afraid I’m all out of shits to give,” Tony said, looking around as if to find something.

“Really Stark? In front of the kid?”

“I’m afraid he’s right, Captain, since we seem to be out of fucks as well, unless you’re here for something else?” Harry said in a sickly-sweet voice. Romanoff snorted, though Rogers seemed less pleased.

“Sir, today is the second of January,” Jarvis said.

“…and?”

“You organised with Miss Romanoff to issue the newest equipment to the Avengers today, Sir.”

“Ah…bollocks. Kid, mind helping me with this?” Tony gestured away from the two visitors, going to the opposite wall of the room. Harry followed quickly, the two falling into whispers as they walked.

“Since when do you give them stuff?”

“The Avengers are a private organisation, so I kind of kit them out with gear and pay for their stuff,” Tony said, not noticing Harry’s own wide-eyed look.

“But Roger’s is still a dick to you?”

“Damn I really ruined your language, but it’s alright; best chance for us to help others is if we have the best gear possible, and Romanoff is mostly self-sufficient, I just tinker with her weaponry,” Tony said, surprisingly not hinting at an innuendo there. Although, Harry didn’t really mind because he was too busy mentally tearing Rogers a new one.

The audacity to both accept Tony’s things _and_ to still be a dick to the man? Harry was not having it.

He may, admittedly, be almost a foot shorter than the super-solider, but that wouldn’t stop him from having _words_.

Tony, whilst Harry was planning a ‘conversation’ with Rogers, had pressed a series of numbers on a number-pad Harry hadn’t really noticed before. The wall rose in front of them, revealing rows upon rows of weaponry.

Harry recognised a few things: a series of compound bows and longbows probably for ‘hawkeye’, who Harry was yet to meet; enough guns to satisfy even Romanoff, probably; a second shield for the Captain; and even _outfits_ for all of them. Honestly, Tony seemed to be ready for anything.

“Take your pick, children. Harry, want to go watch something upstairs?”

“Yeah, I’ll be right there…just need to have a word with the Captain.” Harry gave his father a _look_ , the man looking between Harry’s green eyes in pursuit of something: whatever it was, he must have found it, because Tony nodded and left them to it.

As Rogers and Romanoff were busy picking out what they wanted – in the latter’s case, seemingly every weapon within reach – Harry walked over on silent feet, poking the Captain in his lower back to get his attention.

“Huh? Oh, kid, you alright?”

“You should be nicer to Tony.”

“Kid, you don’t-“

“If he gives you all of this” Harry said, gesturing to the wall of gear, “the least you can do is to stop being a dick to him. Because it’s not cool, and we might have a problem if you’re horrible to him.”

“Right…” the blonde said, a strange kind of look on his face, something between fond and nostalgic. Harry, however, didn’t think he was getting the picture.

“I’m serious. He’s done a lot for me, and I don’t appreciate you dismissing everything he’s done. Stop it.” Harry said, to which Roger’s jaw tensed. The blonde sighed after a moment, whilst Romanoff looked on.

“Listen kid, when you’re older you’ll-“

“Ok, no. I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe, so don’t just…dismiss me as a child. You’ve been crap to Tony, and neither of you have said thanks to him for kitting you out or for funding you.” Harry said, giving both of them a strong look before turning his back. Rogers, unfortunately, didn’t seem to want to leave the conversation there.

A strong hand was put on Harry’s shoulder, effectively keeping him from moving. Before the Captain could say anything, Harry acted.

In a move he’d learnt from the Ancient One, Harry grasped the man’s hand in the section between forefinger and thumb, twisting whilst turning his own body. With his free hand, Harry pushed his palm into the blonde’s lower stomach.

Roger’s astral form was blasted from his body, floating behind him in complete bewilderment. With a quick hand gesture, Harry _pulled_ Steve’s form back into the man’s body.

“What the _fuck_?”

“So you can swear, huh. Toodles.” Harry said with a wave, leaving a stunned Captain behind him.

He hadn’t wanted to hurt the man or anything like that, but he felt it necessary to demonstrate that he wasn’t just a kid goofing about in the tower; and equally, that he could and _would_ stand up for Tony if he had to. He just hoped the man acted better in the future.

~HP¦MCU~

“That was quite some move you pulled.”

Harry turned to the voice, relaxing his stance from where he’d been practising against a training dummy. He and Tony had watched a bit of tv together during lunch, but Harry had thought the two visitors had shown themselves out. Worryingly, he hadn’t noticed the spy enter the room.

“Thanks. Can I help you?” Harry said, hiding how uncomfortable he was at her sudden presence. He’d thought he’d be able to work through his frustration by himself – so he probably looked a mess, in his sweat-soaked workout gear.

“Just wanted to know how you are, Romanoff replied, coming over to eye the training dummy Harry had been practising on.

“…do you want to know, or does SHIELD?”

The spy gave an approving look his way, briefly nodding her head to indicate ‘yeah, that one’.

“You know, if you kicked a fraction higher you’d get a better hit in; above the hip but below the ribcage.” She ushered him back with a gesture, and in a smooth, fluid motion, roundhouse-kicked the training dummy across the face.

It flew across the room under the force.

“…that wasn’t the stomach.”

“Well, no, but it’s just as effective.”

“I don’t think I can get my leg up that high though.”

“Ever done ballet?”

“I most definitely have not.”

“I’ll tell Stark to get you a tutor. You’ll be much more flexible in a fight, although the training might kill you.” Harry doubted it considering he’d survived a Dark Elf invasion and all, but whatever.

“Cool…why? Like, why do you care?”

“Before you came along, Stark was a man who cared more about his image than he did about anything else. Well, Pepper helped, but you’re good for him.”

“Thanks-“

“And that makes you a target. I’ve never seen the move you pulled against Steve, but sooner or later someone’s going to try and get you to get to Stark. If you can defend yourself, well, everyone’s better off.” She said, coming to stand on Harry’s right side after rearranging the training dummy.

Harry, who had never really thought about _that_ – that he might be a target for someone to get to Tony, especially when his status as Stark’s son came out – felt a new kind of resolve settle in his stomach.

He never wanted to be a burden on Tony, so he’d try not to be.

And if that meant doing extra training so he wouldn’t get caught unawares by someone, well, it was a small price to pay.

“Can you teach me?”

“Nope, at least, not for a while. Steve and I have a mission we’ve got to get to, but maybe when you’ve learnt a bit of ballet. It’ll help your balance and kicks.”

“How did you know-?”

“That your balance was off? To be fair it’s not _bad_ , could be much worse, but since you’re more on the lithe side, your best bet is to dodge rather than take a hit straight on, which will improve if your balance improves. Now, try kicking him.”

“Why’s it a him?” Harry said, eyeing the plain features of the dummy.

“Because you’re in here to work out your frustration against Steve, so imagine it to be Steve.”

“Should you be condoning me hitting Rogers?”

“Probably not, but better to hit a dummy than get punched in return. Now whack him.”

The rest of the day was spent – surprisingly – getting tips from the master spy, which Harry was quite thankful for, all things considered. He knew he wasn’t all-powerful or anything – The Ancient One had proven that time and time again during their sparring sessions – so he’d take any advice he could.

He might even listen to Rogers one day…if the man got over himself and actually appreciated Tony a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a filler all things considered, but the next chapter involves Harry's interaction with the plot of Captain America: Winter Soldier! 
> 
> I also feel like Natasha doesn't get as much credit in the MCU in terms of abilities; she may not have a super-suit or be an Asgardian God, but she does have a great deal of fighting experience: Harry hasn't really incorporated his legs into his fighting style at the moment, since the Masters of the Mystic Arts use their hands, so it felt like a good opportunity. 
> 
> Steve will improve! But Harry makes opinions of people rather quickly, so it will take some time for him to warm up to the captain. 
> 
> Next Update to come on the 28th March '21 :D stay safe folks!


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